Article Buddy's Heart

Buddy was a little white Maltese Poodle that visited old folks in retirement homes and the sick and elderly in hospital. He suffered terribly from arthritis, whimpering if you touched him the wrong way. However, his pain would vanish when visiting those sicker than himself. Story goes that an elderly gentleman, who hadn’t spoken to anyone else for six years, would whisper to the little white dog whenever he came to visit.

Buddy had a heart twice the size of his  canine body and even though he crossed over two years ago, his love for others lives on through Buddy’s Heart Pet Ministry.  The Ministry was founded by Chaplain Nola and himself, Working Pet Chaplain Buddy.   “Pet chaplains help people with their grief or help people when their dog, cat or animal is sick,” explains the 55-year-old ordained pet minister.  “Our service is spiritual because animals don’t need religion. People do.”She has a Christian background but calls herself a spiritual person, first heard of pet clergy in 2005 when a friend suggested she would make a great animal pastor because of her love and affinity for all creatures.

“I had no idea what that was,” .   “Pet clergy is everywhere in the States. There are pet cemeteries, pet cremation, pet chapels – we’re five years behind the times.”

She took her training through an online course called Chapel of the Fields, written by Sandra Shaw, a communications specialist in California who founded an outreach ministry for animals in late 2000.  Shaw took two and a half years to write the course which is based on Biblical principals.  There are many references to the spiritual nature of animals, such as passage from Ecclesiastes 3 which states “Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both; as one dies, so dies the other.  All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”

 which has certified 25 pet pastors around the world. Keith Brown, a Catholic priest in Stone Mountain, Georgia, is a director of the non-profit foundation, which provides prayer support and services to people who need help with their pets, which includes walking and feeding them, or even just someone to talk to, at no charge.

“We don’t charge for anything, because if you believe in the Lord or a higher spirit, you have never been charged anything, either. Everything we do is from our heart,”  although donations are accepted.

Pet Heaven Crematorium and Funeral Chapel, the first facility of its kind for pets in Western Canada, which opened in 2006.  When families call them to have their deceased pet transported from the vet clinic or from their home to his facility, he frequently calls upon the Pastor  to comfort the bereaved family.

“We do a service to bring closure to the family,”  He has observed that at the crematorium, it’s not unusual for the owners of families to personally place their pet inside the crematorium.

“People want to watch their animals go in, so that they know it’s really theirs,”.  . “One family once stood and prayed for two hours outside the crematorium itself.”

Pet pastors may also perform last rights, which can be comforting to owners right before euthanasia. Veterinarians may only give you 10 or 15 minutes with your pet before administering the needle.

“Most people can’t handle that. They haven’t had enough time to say goodbye. Ten minutes won’t cut the cake,” she says. “If you come to the pet chapel or have a service at your home, you can read poems or read out of the Bible. It’s up to you. When Buddy passed away, everyone wanted to say something.”