This is Bear. He was there to welcome Sprite at the Rainbow bridge. I adopted Bear from the SPCA in March of 2003 at the tender age of 3 1/2 mo. He was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure about 1 month before his first birthday. We had 3 more great years together. I believe Bear was a German Shepherd/Bernese Mountain Dog mix.
I had to give him is angel wings on May 5, 2007. Bear was a great healer of souls. He is now at the bridge playing with a little boy he never “met” on earth but one that he shared a bond with for they both had a daily fight for life. They emailed each other discussing various thing/sicknesses, hardships, accomplishments and joys. Jacob, in Canada, lost his fight on August 31, 2007, one day before his 10th birthday. The day before Jacobs passing I received a note from him telling me that “Bear had helped him walk” – It was a life long dream of his to walk on his own. He told me he would work even harder to walk after Bear passed because he would be walking for Bear too because he and Bear were “still Partners” and he did just that.

Thank you for sharing yoru Sprite with us and thank you for adding this section to your site.

You are an awesome American!

Lisa from TX

I volunteer at the Bergen County Animal Shelter in Teterboro NJ. We are the largest animal shelter in NJ. We are grossly underfunded! We need adopters, we have cats, dogs, rabbits looking for forever homes! Help out if you can! Come adopt today!

Matt from NJ

Mark, thanks for bringing rescued pets to the forefront with your book. My copy is on order, and I look forward to reading it. I have four rescued cats, but my special one, Rocky, is my little “Sprite.” I got Rocky through PetFinder.com. He came to us sickly with bronchial pneumonia, but never missed a beat in the heart department. Or so we thought. One August afternoon, Rocky fell strangely off a chair. Ultimately, diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy, Rocky began a six-month saga with various anti-seizure meds, but his seizures only increased. Fearing the worst, I took Rocky to a second neurologist. During the exam, she observed his seizuring and declared Rocky did not have epilepsy, he has syncope, his heart is stopping causing him to faint. Within days, Rocky was in surgery for a pacemaker. Now 2 ½ years later, Rocky, the pacemaker cat, is doing great. Some people look at me like I have three heads when I tell them about him, but they don’t know Rocky. I just smile contentedly with gratitude for my rescued cat. Thanks again for bringing attention to these poor forgotten animals. Some are lucky enough to make their way to a rescue group, but many do not. I attached a picture of Fred (black & white) and Rocky. Fred was a stray we found in Paterson, NJ. He’s a good boy.

 Pat from NJ

Bamber sits next to my bed every night. Well, her ashes do.
She was no different in my life though. She always sat by the door when I worked and would not move from her spot until I came home.

Bamber was born into time March 25th 1992. She left me one week short of her 15th birthday. She was then born into eternity. Without me. She was my soulmate who I never quite felt worthy of.
As I held her when she lay dying I sang her favorite song to her: A Pretty girl is like a melody. But this time she didn’t wag her tail.

She grew up watching over my children, she knew them as her babies. And my firstborn granddaughter. My husband taught Bamber how to protect them. Although it was quite natural to her being a German Shepard. She also was a big sister and mother to our Haley who was born into eternity in 1998. Oh did Bamber pine for her.
Bamber saw many pets come and go. She tolerated her brood with aplomb and care. Our cockatiel Star would ride on Amber’s back all around the house. Star’s first word was “Amber”. Star is not the same with Bamber being gone now. I’m not the same with Bamber being gone.

I grew up around dogs. And Bamber will most likely be the last for she is irreplaceable. I have cats. They are fun and lovable but the unconditional love and giving of Bamber is second to none.
My pictures of her are put away in storage. But my one earred droopy baby is always in my mind’s eye. I feel her nudge me at times as she always did to pick up my hand to rub her ear. This is one loss I will never recover from.

Piper from IL

You have truly touched our hearts with Sprite and his story. We have been married over 30 years and have had several dogs, many from a shelter, all of which were the greatest in each of their own way and always the center of the family. It is one thing when they grow old or have some infirmity that you can somewhat prepare yourself. We had neither when we lost our Rascal, a sheltie/pomeranian mix. Rascal had an enemy, the next door neighbor who simply hated dogs and would have nothing to do with them. We were leaving one Sat. morning to go out of town for the weekend when Rascal began acting very funny, spasms, loss of muscle tone. Of course we were heartborken when we found out that there was nothing we could do to save him and that Rascal had in fact been poisoned.

We did not have the funds to perform the autopsy, all of the tests they wanted to do, etc. just to try and prove what had poisoned our Rascal and even then if it turned out to be a household product it was difficult to “prove” who did it. Possibly with a crusader like you Mr. Levin we could have gone forward, but it was all we could do to bury that little dog and go on with life. several years later, we still have some of his toys, around the house.

To this day, we still talk about him and tears still come to our eyes. We learned that same weekend that 4 other dogs on our street also died from the same type symptoms. thank you for allowing your readers to have this opportunity. We listen to you every weeknight and Rascal’s memories come back so strongly. We will never forget that little dog that used to sleep on our bed, meet us at the door and literally smiled when he saw you. It took some time for us, but we have rescued another dog and watch over him night and day. take care and God Bless you.

Barbara & Phil from Florida

Ten years ago, I moved to the country with my husband and 13-year old daughter. We had two dogs at that time — Bakka, an Australian shepherd given to us by a neighbor who was moving to an apartment complex that did not allow pets, and Benny, an apricot toy poodle purchased at a pet shop (for a sum I did not disclose to my husband until years later…).

From the moment we moved into our country home, our dog population began to increase. Our house is located at the end of a winding country lane that snakes through the woods down to a creek. Soon after we moved into the house, our dog population began to increase! From our son, we inherited two dogs: Sam and Sadie. The arrangement was to have been temporary, but as things worked out, Sam and Sadie became permanent residents.

Over the next four years, seven dogs — apparently lost or discarded — made their way down our country raod and up the driveway to our back door: Oscar, Arnie, Bubba, Ruthie, Freddie, Millie and Lyza. We kept them all!And, we told our friends and family that we had moved to Dog Heaven! These lovely animals have been a source of true joy. Each of them has a distinctive personality and approach to life. They have definitely enriched our lives!

Our 13-year old daughter has now graduated from college and lives in another state (Lyza moved with her when she left for school). Our beloved pets Bakka and Benny have departed as have Sam and Sadie, Arnie and Bubba. Two of them died quiet, natural deaths; three of them had to be put to sleep and one… the old black and tan hound dog…took a stray bullet to the chest when he ran into the woods to do what he knew best — track deer. My husband buried five of the dogs on the hillside near our home….a task that always laid him low for weeks!

Four dogs remain: Oscar, Freddie, Ruthie and Millie. One large dog and three small ones! We often think back to the full house we once had and wonder how we managed. But, we will always remember with fondness and a smile those beautiful strays who graced our home.

Diane from Indiana