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What Can Promote Healing in Your Animals & You?
2 Lessons Animals Taught Me About Growing Older Gracefully & Fearlessly
How Can You Join Other Animal Lovers & Give Better Animal Hospice Care?
2 Ways Helpful BrightHaven Caregiver Resources Are Better Than Ever!
BrightHaven’s goal is to help you help your animals live well each and every day! Founded in 1990 by Gail and Richard Pope, BrightHaven is a renowned animal rescue, hospice education and holistic education nonprofit organization. Our primary focus: senior, disabled and chronically ill animals, a vulnerable population that has an overwhelming need to find…
Read MoreWhat unfailingly helps you to live well & fully each day?
The answer: LOVE!!! And as always, February has been the perfect month to celebrate love, with St. Valentine’s Day occurring on the 14th. At BrightHaven we celebrate and honor love in everything we do, every day of the year – its healing power is tremendous! For example, our Menu for Healing, which forms the foundation…
Read MoreHow Do I Navigate a Terminal Diagnosis for My Loved One?
As all of us animal lovers know, being told by the vet that our beloved’s illness is terminal is one of the most difficult things to hear. What do I do now? How can I best support my animal friend? What is the best way forward for our family? These are just a few of…
Read MoreCan Suffering Really Be a Matter of Choice?
When we have an elderly or ill furry family member, or our beloved animal has received a terminal diagnosis, pain, suffering, will to live and quality of life for living and dying become important considerations. A Helpful Definition of Suffering Pain and suffering are often lumped together, as if they’re synonymous. However, that may not…
Read MoreA Beautiful Tribute to Rico, One Amazing Cat
We are honored to share the loving tribute to Rico written by longtime BrightHaven friend and supporter, Dr. Kathryn Marocchino of The Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets. Along with BrightHaven’s Gail Pope and Dr. Ella Bittel of Spirits in Transition, Kathryn co-created the Quality of Dying Checklist, which assesses quality of life as the hospice journey progresses…
Read MoreThe End of a BrightHaven Era: Fray
BrightHaven President and Founder Gail Pope shares her heartfelt tribute to Fray: “Somewhere around the beginning of 2003 we welcomed a new volunteer to the BrightHaven fold, Fray Huffman. After 17 years of devoted and unwavering service to the animals to whom she dedicated her life, I find it still hard to believe that…
Read MoreWhat Animals Want Us to Know About Living a Full Life
One of the many things that this shared COVID19 experience has brought front and center is the omnipresent impermanence of everything, including life itself. What animals want us to know: Living well and fully each and every day is so important, regardless of circumstances. And animals can definitely show us how! What Animals Want Us…
Read MoreOn the Subject of Animal Hospice & Natural Death
In March 2017, Adam Clark, LCSW, AASW, interviewed BrightHaven President and Founder Gail Pope for a Psychology Today article about animal hospice and natural death. This information remains very relevant to those who are seeking an alternative to euthanasia for their beloved animal family member. As you can see from our animal hospice guiding statement,…
Read MoreSo Grateful for Animals Each & Every Day!
It’s that time of year again, when gratitude is in the spotlight. Between you and me, I find that being thankful for what one has is an important part of living well each and every day of the year if one wishes to live a joyful, balanced and fulfilling life. And I am so grateful…
Read MoreWhat Hope Taught Me About Fear
At BrightHaven, we often talk about following the wisdom of the animals. In fact, that’s how our Menu for Healing, the cornerstone of BrightHaven’s work, came into being! I was blessed to meet and spend time with many wise and wonderful animals while I lived on the BrightHaven sanctuary property in Santa Rosa, CA, for…
Read MoreA Loving Tribute to a BrightHaven Legend
BrightHaven President and Founder Gail Pope pays loving tribute to Bailey, a larger-than-life being: “March 26 th at 730pm saw the ending of yet another BrightHaven era, with the death of our amazing super-dog-man and old soul, Bailey. I am not sure that I can do justice to this larger-than-life character and the depth of…
Read MoreLoss of Beloved Animal or Human, Grief is Grief is Grief
As BrightHaven’s Gail Pope wrote in “The Art of Dying—What Animals Teach Us” article that recently appeared in the Natural Transitions online magazine: “The death of a beloved animal companion is one of the most difficult things we as animal lovers ever face. In my experience, sometimes this loss is more difficult than that of…
Read MoreWhen Should I Consider a Holistic Vet for My Animal?
Please note: None of the information contained in this post is intended to replace consultation with a qualified veterinarian. Since holistic approaches form the foundation of BrightHaven’s Menu for Healing, in most cases a classical veterinary homeopath is our “go-to” vet when an animal shows symptoms. All classical veterinary homeopaths are also DVMs, or Doctors…
Read MoreA Practical Way You Can Help Bring Comfort to Dying Animals
Melissa recently contacted Gail for a consultation regarding her treasured cat Dexter. About a year and a half ago, he was diagnosed with a cancerous nasal tumor near his right eye. The journey that Dexter and Melissa shared was challenging, and they found Gail’s ongoing animal hospice support extremely helpful. To honor Dexter and to…
Read MoreHow to Help Your Animal Live Well Through the Last Breath!
At BrightHaven, we often say that it’s all about living well through the last breath! But what exactly does that mean? Living Well Though the Last Breath the BrightHaven Way BrightHaven is unique because of the way we work and the results we get. Our Menu for Healing forms the foundation of our work. It…
Read MoreMy Animal is Dying – Can You Help Me Please?
BrightHaven is unique because of the way we work and the results we get. Our Menu for Healing, which is the foundation of our work, focuses on the best quality of life at all stages, all the way to the most peaceful and loving dying process. The goal is to achieve optimal balance of body,…
Read MoreCelebrating the Life of a BrightHaven Lion
Gail Pope’s heartfelt farewell (see below) to Tarka clearly shows BrightHaven’s key tenets, which also apply to animal hospice care: Animals are sentient beings, capable of conscious awareness, feeling and suffering. They deserve an environment and conditions that allow them to achieve a state of well being throughout their entire lives. Animals are always true…
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