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My impetus for creating All Pets Go To Heaven came from my furry babies: Kiki, Duchess and Dante. It had a tragic beginning, but the dream and vision continues to unfold.
From January 2, 2002 to January 1, 2003 I lost 3 of my beloved pets. Kiki, my cat of 21 years and a cancer survivor decided it was time for him to leave this earth and go do important work elsewhere. He was put to sleep on January 2, 2002. I was deeply saddened because I had lived longer with Kiki than anyone else in my life. Even though he had lived a good, long life, his absence left a big hole in my heart.
A few months later in April 2002, my little baby girl Duchess was diagnosed with rampant cancer. The veterinarian who performed the exploratory said that she had never seen so much cancer in a dog. I had to put her to sleep on the operating table, just a few weeks shy of her 5th birthday. I have never cried so much in my whole entire life as I had in the month following her leavng this earth.
I thought that as I was slowly starting to heal from my deep grief that the worst was over. However in December of 2002, my boy shepherd Dante suddenly became ill. After many tests and surgery to remove his spleen, he never quite recovered and his heart beat it's final beat on the evening of January 1st 2003.
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| Kiki and Dante |
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| Duchess |
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2002 was a year of incredible loss. In addition to the loss of my furry babies, I was also going through a marriage separation that would lead to an eventual divorce. The universe was definitely hitting me over the head with a big baseball bat!
I don't believe in random occurrences, so I started looking deep within to find what the meaning and lesson was in all of this incredible pain and sadness.
I was fortunate enough to have been living on 5 beautiful acres in Carnation, WA. When Kiki and Duchess died, I buried them in a grave next to each other in a little cemetery that I had created in the back yard. I enjoyed walking out to the back yard and visiting them regularly. It brought me peace to be able to do so, and nurtured our connection even though we were no longer on a physical plane together.
When I separated from my husband, I moved out of the house into an apartment building. Dante stayed with the house because he loved his yard, he loved the house and physically couldn't climb the stairs to the apartment building.
So, I found myself living alone in an apartment and for the first time in a long time, I was without animal companionship and energy. I had been raised with pets and had always had them around me except for a few years in college. This was a very deep emptiness that I was experiencing. It was compounded by the fact that I could no longer visit Kiki and Duchess in my little cemetery whenever I wanted to. I also had to arrange in my schedule to visit my handsome boy Dante. These were difficult and emotional times.
As I continued to search for meaning, I started wondering what other people did when their animals passed on: people who lived in the city, in condos or apartments, etc. I began resesarching pet cemeteries in the area and found that there was really only one pet cemetery in the Seattle area. There was nothing available on the Eastside. I began thinking that maybe this was the purpose of experiencing the incredible losses. I immediately started working on a business plan and at the same time initiated a search for viable property for a pet cemetery. I also joined an organization called the International Association of Pet Cemeteries.
It took me over a year to locate the property for All Pets Go To Heaven, but it is the perfect place. I found an exceptionally beautiful and historical property located in Fall City, Washington in 2004. Closing on the property was not easy because the house was so old (built sometime in the late 1800's), there were no plans, and there was only ever one loan against it for $10,000 in the 1970's. I worked with 5 different lenders and was rejected by 4 of them until I finally found one who was able to value the house and property.
As I was working through my closing, I began the permitting process with King County for an overall permit that would allow me to execute my business plan. Fast forward to 4 years later and I was finally granted permits to do most of the things that I had outlined in my business plan.
The close of 2008 finds me now in the process of setting up the All Pets Go To Heaven Foundation which will be responsible for building, managing and maintaining the Pet Cemetery. The dream and vision are not yet complete. It has been quite a journey so far but it is a worthy endeavor not only for the love and honor of my beloved pets, but for all of our beloved animals on this earth who bring so many wonderful gifts and lessons to our lives.
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