Showing posts with label in memory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in memory. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 July 2024

Andover residents honour stray cat Jess with bronze statue

The infographic-style image made by me explains the story. For me - and I am sure many other animal and cat lovers - to see the residents of Andover, England raising £5,000 to commission a sculptor, Amy Goodman, to create a bronze statue in memory of Jess, who made the railway station her home, is a delight. 

No doubt Jess's presence at the railway station pleased countless numbers of commuters. She must have made them smile; brightened up their lives on a damp Monday morning on their commute to the office. I love to see this happen. It is good for cats. I have just written an article about a story that was bad for cats. Click this to read it.
Amy Goodman presents her mold for the bronze statue of Jess by Michael Broad

Sunday, 24 December 2023

Evergreen companion animal memorial tree in Central Park

There is an evergreen tree in Central Park New York which is a memorial to companion animals that have passed over the rainbow bridge.


New Yorkers who want to remember their beloved companion animals can go to Central Park and find an 18 foot evergreen tree on which will be laminated images and words memorialising beloved companion animals that have passed over the rainbow bridge. And there is a website about the tree: TheFureverTree.com.

The tradition has been going on for 40 years and it runs from Thanksgiving to Three Kings Day.

The website tells us the role the tree plays for grieving pet lovers: 'pet lovers in search of a place to heal, a place to honor, bless and celebrate all creatures great and small who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.'

A kind person takes down the memorials every year and cleans them up and fixes them up and places them out the next year. They do it without payment or any reward whatsoever.

Any pet can be memorialised on the street but it seems that most are dogs with some cats.

The current "tree keeper" is Marianne Larsen. She took over the role from Mr Reddock about five years ago after he had difficulty walking.

It was during the Covid pandemic that this memorial tree took off in popularity. Larsen said: "In 2020, we added 200 photos. In '21 it was another 200 and in '22 it was another 200. So now we are over 600 and I think after the day we might be up to at least 750."

People who used to live in New York City and who left a memorial on the tree sometimes find time to return to it when passing through.

I believe the tree is in a place called The Ramble. It is one of Central Park's three woodland landscapes and stretches across 36 acres in the middle of the park between 73rd and 79th streets.

My thanks to the Daily Mail. The video below is embedded from the newspaper. I don't control its existence and it may disappear one day.


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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Thursday, 13 April 2023

Cat 'Kolo' who visited a hospital's emergency department to cheer up patients gets a statue in his memory

Kolo, a male tabby cat, lived near Southmead Hospital in Bristol, UK. He clearly liked to visit the hospital particularly the Accident & Emergency department. It is not that unusual for a local domestic cat to visit an organisation like the NHS because there is no doubt in my mind that these individual cats have been left alone all day and they need the stimulation of interaction with people. That's a result of their domestication. And so, they go and find people.

Kolo
Kolo. Photo: Julie White (believed).

And if they wander into an A&E department of the local hospital and are not rejected by the people there, they will return. And that's how you develop a nice relationship between the hospital staff and in this instance Kolo.

By all accounts he was a very sweet boy. He was loved and he helped to keep the mood up in the hospital by providing comfort to the patients and they appreciated it.

Julie White, who works for North Bristol NHS at Southmead found Kolo to be a wonderful cat and she wants the staff at the hospital and visitors to remember him. 

She is trying to raise sufficient funds to leave a statue in his memory and in memory of all the smiling faces he left behind thanks to his pleasant nature and company.

Lynda Johnson is one those who benefited from Kolo when she was at the hospital. She said on the fundraiser page for the statue (see below):

"Thank you, Kolo, for comforting me when I was alone at Southmead in 2021. You sat and waited for me to have my X-rays, and then again while I waited for my lift home. You will be much missed."

And a spokesperson at the North Bristol NHS Trust said:

"We were very sad to hear the news that Kolo the cat has passed away."

They added:

"We're aware a fundraising campaign has been started, and we will work with the organisers of this campaign to agree an appropriate way to remember Kolo."

So far, the campaign has raised £3,835, more than three times the goal of £1,000.

Kolo was actually injured in a car accident presumably while he was approaching the hospital or leaving it. That was always a possibility I would have thought. It is a great shame that he had to be euthanised because he was too badly injured. Not a great way to die especially for a wonderful cat who was providing a therapy service to people who needed it.

Here is a short video of him. I can't guarantee that it will function for the lifetime of this website. Sorry.

@lokkidokkey #foryourpage #fyp #cat ♬ My House - Welcome To My World

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