Scott Township park getting rainbow bridge

Fallen Vanderburgh County Fire Department K9 Inspires Bridge

The Vanderburgh County Fire Department has a very unique crew member in a station dog. A station dog is there for comfort, to help make the place more welcoming to the community, to bring compassion to the crew members, and to ease their time in the station. Siren was that dog for two years, until she lost her fight with a medical illness. Siren was a fighter, having lived her entire life deaf; challenge was not a word in her dictionary. It's Siren who has inspired Scott Township Park to build a permanent rainbow bridge in her memory. Once built, dog owners will have a place to take the collars of their fallen fur babies and hang them to commemorate their own loss. Scott Township Deputy Trustee Kendyl Craig said this about the bridge:

"I recently lost my father, and there's days where I just go to the cemetery. But when we lose a pet, we don’t really have a place to do that. So, this allows people to come and just sit on a bench, enjoy nature, and just think about those wonderful memories they had.”

Grieving A Pet Feels Impossible

Grieving a pet feels like one of the most impossible things, but I've unfortunately had to go through it twice. The loyalty, love, compassion, and friendship we develop with an animal are a bond unlike any other. Your only form of communication is through action, essentially, which leads to an understanding of each other. That understanding feels like an endless hole when they are lost. It's been almost a year since I had to let go of my precious dog, Joplin, and I still grieve her daily. You don't get over it, but you choose to push through it and see the beauty of the time you were allowed to share with them. Things like the Rainbow Bridge poem were created to help us deal with these situations. The poem is the inspiration behind the bridge being created in Scott Township Park.

The Rainbow Bridge Poem

I first read this poem after my first dog, Waylon, was lost to a degenerative bone disease after three short years. I was broken. He was my first fur baby. Reading this brought me a sense of comfort. Read the entire poem and learn about Rainbow Bridge missions across the world on their website.