Dartmouth animal shelter opens rainbow bridge to honour beloved pets

Bide Awhile Animal Shelter in Dartmouth, N.S., has a new addition to its memorial garden for pets — a permanent rainbow bridge.

Organizers say it is designed to comfort grieving pet owners and celebrate the bonds between humans and their animal companions.

It was revealed to the public at the shelter's annual spring open house on Saturday.

The rainbow bridge is a metaphor for the crossing where pets wait for their owners in the afterlife.

It is believed to derive from a 1959 poem written by Edna Clyne in Scotland after the death of her Labrador retriever.

The bridge leads into Trio's Garden, a memorial garden named after a three-legged cat who lived at the shelter for 23 years.

"This is our rainbow bridge, a way to symbolize the memorial aspect of our garden," said Sam Cole, Bide Awhile's communications and marketing co-ordinator.

"It's not a cemetery. It's a place to symbolize and memorialize the relationship you had with your pet ...so you can reflect on the time that you spent together, all the good memories."

Visitors can memorialize their pets by hanging collars, name tags or other mementos along the bridge railings

The garden already features numerous plaques, statues and plantings dedicated to departed pets. 

Cole said the space helps with the grieving process. "After the rainbow bridge there will be another hello," she said.

Pet owners can arrange memorials by contacting the shelter to discuss options ranging from engraved plaques to planting their pets favourite flowers.

The unveiling coincided with the shelter's annual spring open house, one of its biggest fundraising events of the year.

With about 600 animals adopted annually, primarily cats, Cole said the open house lets the community see the impact their donations and help have in keeping the shelter going.

It also gave them a chance to meet Kiki, the shelter's lone canine resident, who is being acclimatized before being made available for adoption.