It is with my deepest regrets that I am unfortunately informing you of Penny’s passing.
Yesterday, five months after she went missing her body was discovered. She wasn’t far from our home and it seems like she passed suddenly, very soon after she went missing. Toronto Animal Services picked her up and we confirmed it was her. They said that she had been hit by a train or a car on the Queensway, moved to the side in some bushes and passed on very shortly after. They told us she probably did not suffer.
It appears that she had passed on shortly after running off, she was still wearing her collar and jacket. No “sighting” of Penny was ever of her with the jacket still on. Still, those sightings and every single one of our efforts in the last five months gave us the hope and the time that we needed to be ok. We never gave up, and so many of you stood by us the entire time. Somehow over those months we slowly came to understand that we might not ever find her and although this is the most heartbreaking ending, we finally have our closure. We had hoped that the sightings were true, but the thought of her being outside alone for months was heartbreaking, perhaps it is better that she went right away. I only hope that she continued to bounce around, run and play until the very end. And I hope she knew that our love for her is, and always will be, immense.
I cannot describe how devastated we are. Penny spent only a short time with us, but changed our lives forever. She also gave us an incredible amount of hope. Losing her brought us to so many truly incredible people, people who have hearts of gold, just like she did. Despite her physical presence being gone for five months to the day, we have felt her with us all along and only wanted our happy ending. Still, animals seem to teach their lessons with ease compared to us and they need less time to make a huge difference in the world. I don’t doubt that Penny has affected many of you and I know that our never-ending love for her has reached thousands.
I want to thank everyone for their efforts, thoughts, prayers and hope. I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of people to rely on. You all helped us stay strong though this and I know we couldn’t have done this without each of you. If you see any posters for Penny, please take them down and please notify anyone you may have contacted.
As we continue to grieve for Penny we will be making some changes too. We had decided just before receiving the news of Penny’s passing to bring another dog into our home. We had hoped that Penny would still return and we could have two dogs. There is a dog that needs us and although we hurt so much for Penny, our pain has been there for five months. We hope that another dog will keep us strong, we need her as much as she needs us right now. We know that she won’t be Penny, no dog could fill those pawprints – ever, but she’ll be different and she’ll give us new reasons to love her and new reasons to stay positive.
I don’t doubt that Penny was needed somewhere else more than she was with us. If there ever was an animal meant to be an angel, it is our sweet Penny. I hope that she is somewhere with no pain, lots of toys and many other dogs to play with. And I hope that she knows that each and every one of you cared for her.
Thank you for not giving up, for being there for us and for helping Penny. Wherever she is, I’m sure she knows that so many people love her.
She will be missed forever and remembered with a smile always.
A.C. and S.S.
Friday, May 8, 2009
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