We kept our promise to Bella; we loved her, spoiled her, and kept her comfortable during her time here at Paws Give Me Purpose Sanctuary. She left this earth peacefully in her sleep, on her own terms, knowing kindness, compassion, love and dignity. This was not something we expected, it just must have been time.
Although we knew Bella was a Hospice resident and this is the nature of the work that we do, it never gets easier. With every loss we face here in Sanctuary, our hearts break a little bit more. Bella took a huge piece of everyone’s heart with her when she left us so suddenly.
Our little “Beanie Baby” Bella was almost 15 years old and had a host of serious medical and behavioral issues. She arrived at our Sanctuary in November of 2020 after having been found wandering the streets, and was taken to the nearest shelter by animal control. No one bothered to even come looking for her and sadly it was a clear message that she was intentionally thrown out onto the streets.
She was known as our Sanctuary Cheerleader – our happy, peppy, bouncy, little girl that lit up every room with her outgoing personality, her little quack-like bark and she always had a smile on her adorable face.
She enjoyed her senior days here with us to the fullest, was happy playing and hanging out with her doggie friends, enjoyed sucking on bully sticks and loved “doing brunch”. Bella would like to sleep in later than most of our other senior residents and by the time she was awake and ready for breakfast it was more lunch time of day; she would take her time, ate very slowly and enjoyed every morsel. Her favorite time of day was snack time and unlike most of the other dogs who would gobble their treats up quickly, she truly savored every bite.
In true terrier form, Bella was protective of her people, curious, and very fond of attention. She also enjoyed what we called “the hunt” – and we had to keep her away from the very tiny female Chihuahuas for they would remind her of “the hunt”. These little Chihuahuas were not so innocent themselves, as they would literally tease her and get her going, so it was best to keep them apart to avoid any issues. Bella was very choosy about her doggie friends, but did love being part of our “small dog group” as well as spending time with every person she met.
Small things like taking a warm bubble bath, having her hair brushed and cuddling up to Sanctuary mom until she fell asleep every night seemed very special to her; she really enjoyed being pampered and we enjoyed taking care of her.
Now there is a huge cloud of sadness over our Sanctuary. There was truly something special about our Beanie; she lit up our Sanctuary like no other and now those lights have sadly dimmed and it has become much too quiet. Staff, volunteers and all her doggie friends are grieving her loss – she is greatly missed by all.
We truly hope Bella knew and felt just how much we loved her and we hope she knows that she will always be a big part of our hearts and souls here at Paws Give Me Purpose Sanctuary. Every dog that walks through our door is special and Bella’s memory will live on.
Thank you Bella for allowing us to love and spoil you. Thank you for allowing us to show you that not all humans are unkind. You will always live on in our hearts Bella; we were blessed to have known you!
Thank you to each and every one of you for giving us the ability to give Bella what she needed, for caring, and for being a support to us during this difficult time.