About BrightHaven
Meet our resident Veterinarian!

Twelve years ago British born businessman Richard Pope and his wife Gail opened their home, hearts and wallet (!!) to countless unwanted animals facing certain death. Over the years BrightHaven has evolved to become a completely unique holistic retirement retreat and hospice for senior (16+) sick or disabled animals. Once an animal is "adopted" by BrightHaven, they live out their lives in a beautiful, well balanced environment as part of a loving family and all are completely free to roam indoors or outside in the enclosed gardens. We understand that there are always no less than 12 cats on the family bed, which is surrounded by dogs every night!!

The property is currently home to Richard, Gail, Margaret (Gail's Mother) Susanna (BrightHaven's general manager) and Suzanne (Brighthaven's veterinary technician), 60 cats, 6 dogs, 6 horses, 1 goose, 3 ducks, 2 chickens, 2 turkeys, 2 toads one goat and one huge 550lb pig.

Gail's Mother, Margaret bears the title of chief animal cuddler. Here she is shown with Furbee after one of his seizures. Margaret moved from England after the death of Gail's Father in 1997 to join the family and lives in her own home on the property along with her own 7 cats - all BrightHaven rescues of course! When any animal is sick or reaching the end of their life, Margaret is always on hand to give love, support and words of encouragement.

Susanna Anthony joined BrightHaven in 2000 as our General Manager. She lives at BrightHaven along with her 2 feline daughters "Lulu" and "Diva"and in the last 3 years has shown herself to be invaluable in so very many ways - from running the BrightHaven office with a smooth efficiency - to dealing with the many and varied requests from animal owners or rescuers who see BrightHaven as their answer - to her efficient and amazing knowledge of animal care. As well as being a trained animal behaviorist, Susanna has a wealth of nutritional knowledge, and expertise in the formulation of the natural diet and its supplementation. She is always available for consultations to people interested in making the change. Education is ongoing at BrightHaven and very dear to Susanna's heart. She has even taken on the challenging task of learning more of the skills of homeopathic practice to help more with the animals care.

Suzanne Tomlinson joined the BrightHaven team at the beginning of 2003, after a varied veterinary technician's career. She had an interest in holistic medicine and decided this would be a great way to learn more. Well, Suzanne got caught up in the addictive world of natural medicine very quickly and is now completely hooked!
Suzanne lives on property too, with her own family of 2 dogs and 3 cats who are all, of course loving their new natural diet and lifestyle.

Suzy's daily responsibilities are primarily medical and range from the preparation and delivery of remedies homeopathic or herbal, to the daily administration of life saving subcutaneous fluid therapy, to the never-ending tasks of trimming nails and cleaning ears! This versatile young lady has also shown us that she is very adept at PR and fundraising and loves to spend any spare time in these endeavors. "Harley", our huge Brighthaven pig is one of the lights in Suzy's life and she dedicates much time helping with his care - and being covered in mud too!!!

As you wander through the 5-acre hospice and haven you start to realize that this is a place entirely different from any other. Despite their advanced years and various challenges these animals have shiny coats, bright eyes and are relaxed, happy and charmed to make your acquaintance. Soft soothing music in the background, the aroma of essential oils and burning candles create an atmosphere influenced by Feng Shui and love. This is indeed paradise for animals!! The humans however don't seem to have it so good as there is literally endless work to be accomplished just to get through each day…….

The Popes start their day at 5.30am; showering, dressing, then tending to the sick, expressing some animals' bladders, helping cats and dogs into wheelchairs, checking glucose levels of the diabetics, changing dirty beds, starting laundry, unloading the huge stack of dinner plates from the dishwasher, tending to the pig, turkeys, ducks, goose and chickens and all this before the natural raw meat diet breakfast is enjoyed by all. Breakfast preparations begin at 7:30am, as Richard leaves for the office and Rosario arrives to tackle the huge housekeeping projects for the day.

Rosario Hernandez has been valiantly keeping the BrightHaven household spic and span for almost 3 years now. She has the unenviable task of cleaning litter boxes, of which we have at least 15 at any one time, vacuuming and mopping the floors each and every day and changing cat and dog beds as they are soiled or dirty. The scrubbing and polishing is endless and the washing machines never stop, but this amazing bundle of energy powers her way through every day with a big smile on her face and a kiss and a cuddle for the animals she meets on her way. Her special Brighthaven favorite is our angelic "Furbee", who is prone to seizures. Rosario insists upon being the one to put him tenderly to bed for his morning nap each day. Here she is shown with "Oliver".

As the indoor animals are finishing their breakfast it is time for Barbara to start her chores in the BrightHaven barn where she is kept busy tending to the needs of the Brighthaven horses.

Barbara Hallford is part-time "Mother" to our six Brighthaven horses, as well as pursuing her own busy career as a trainer. She is to be found both morning and night in the BrightHaven stables tending to her charges every need, along with the ever growing and challenging task of cleaning and mucking out - a never ending round!
Barbara has a huge wealth of experience and we are so very lucky to have her as part of our team.

Susanna, Suzanne and Gail work a varied roster to cover all the duties, which, in the morning involve dispensing all the many homeopathic preparations; herbs and supplements prescribed by the BrightHaven team of very well known volunteer homeopaths. Many of the animals receive subcutaneous and sometimes intravenous fluid or vitamin therapy on a daily or rotating basis and have their blood checked regularly in the BrightHaven clinic. There are numerous ongoing evaluations, veterinary phone appointments, twice daily insulin injections for the diabetics, ear cleanings, nail trimmings and such, performed daily. Two meals per day are served to the animals, with the more frail or sick receiving an additional noontime meal. Midday finds the need for expressing bladders again and changing any more soiled beds before the staff takes a well-deserved break to eat and chat - and try in vain to protect their food from marauding cats on the table!

After lunch Rosario continues on with the never ending laundry and cleaning chores, while Susanna, Suzanne or Gail turn their attention to the endless office work consisting of consultations on the BH diet, holistic advice to those with elderly animals in need, accounts, fundraising and callbacks regarding the ongoing, increasing numbers of animals facing death due to their being "unadoptable" - a questionable term?

BrightHaven is continually meeting new challenges as they search for the right way to achieve the purrrfect balance for each individual. The team is well aware that there is never a "written" solution: each case is different and, while diet and homeopathy may be the right balance for one animal, another's acute situation may require the fast action of conventional medicine. BrightHaven embraces a variety of holistic treatments including the use of both Western and Chinese herbs, flower essences, as well as acupressure and chiropractic care when available. When working with cancer patients additional fundraising is done to try to provide specialist care or surgery, as well as nutritional diagnosis and immune therapy. Currently 100% of all holistic work is given pro bono to BrightHaven by the practitioners involved. The one area lacking is in acupuncture, where there is a tremendous need for a specialist.

Susanna or Suzy leave around 5pm after giving any afternoon medications, and feeding the farmyard animals.…. whilst Gail begins the evening feeding session. Dogs come first so that cats can eat in peace!! - little ones followed by the large. Then, on to the cats, with many pauses to help those that are sick or have special needs. Richard arrives home next to help and prepare the evening meal for the humans - dashed down quickly as there is still more to do - finishing up with laundry, and then everyone to bed - a reverse of the 5am procedures. Richard or Gail is often up many times during the night - tending to the sick or escorting a dog to potty. Furbee, an angelic little boy of the feline persuasion, is brain impaired and often sleeps in Richard's arms.

An important aspect of BrightHaven's daily life may become suddenly obvious and to the newcomer it is a refreshing change to find that here the subject of death is dealt with very differently and with no sense of panic. Due to the age and health of the animals there is often someone approaching the end of their life and this is first recognized and accepted by all as supportive treatment is planned. Generally at this stage of life an animal will be supported by homeopathy and daily subcutaneous fluid therapy, but most importantly they will be allowed to stay in the comfort of their own bed or to roam where they choose in the house. A human will remain close by during both day and nighttime to offer a drink or a snack, a clean bed or even just some loving company as the animal plans his/her journey to their next life. All in all these last days are treated as a celebration of life itself and without fear.

Richard and Gail would love to engage upon a huge project- writing the long awaited BrightHaven book. The book will document their personal transition through the BrightHaven experience and will tell many poignant animal stories with the hope of giving the reader an insight into "the BrightHaven balance for health".

Finally, the BrightHaven dream, is to expand and work towards making this country a place where the elderly, sick and disabled animals are not treated as disposable items, but rather as a respected part of a caring society, consequently helping to make the world a better place for all of us.

BrightHaven
19229 Sonoma Highway
Sonoma, CA 95476-5413

Tel: 707 833 6268
www.brighthaven.org
info@brighthaven.org