pet connection

Regular readers know I’m an unabashed fan of the work of Dan Neil of the L.A. Times. After years of writing about autos, he has finally decided to take on a real challenge: pets. (OK, fine, but you’d better not win another Pulitzer for this, or I will not be happy.)

In writing about pet loss and grief, he tries to find the author of the "Rainbow Bridge," which is now more a concept than a piece of writing, and one that has given comfort to countless millions:

"The Rainbow Bridge" is big medicine. I’d wager it’s one of the most
widely disseminated writings on the Internet. If you’ve ever put a pet
down, chances are you’ve seen it. My wife, Tina, was a vet tech for
many years. The staff at her old hospital send out letters of
condolence on rainbow-themed stationery.

[...]

Nearly everywhere I found the poem online, it was
listed as being by "Anonymous." Yet, apparently, a Paul C. Dahm
copyrighted the poem in the 1990s. I couldn’t find him. Digging
further, I did reach Wallace Sife, a Brooklyn psychologist and author
who specializes in pet bereavement. He believes his one-page essay "Pet
Heaven," written about 30 years ago for a dog club newsletter, may be
the original text. He had forgotten about the essay until he found it
online years later. …

Here’s the rest. Thanks, Dan. I’m sorry for your loss.

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