Wish Bone Canine Rescue in Normal is now home to a new Rainbow Bridge Memorial for those who have experienced the loss of a pet.
Logan Moran, 15, of Normal, led the project as he worked toward his Eagle Scout badge. He had a vision of wanting to bring something to Wish Bone to give visitors and others who have lost pets a place to pay their respects.
“The Rainbow Bridge is a poem about pets crossing over to the other side, and I just wanted to symbolize that,” said Logan.
He chose Wish Bone because of his personal connection with the shelter. He adopted his beloved dog Nova from there.
Around 20 other people helped Logan with the project. In addition to the rainbow-colored memorial on the shelter’s east side, the crew also beautified the area by adding pavers near the nearby cemetery door, new plants and flowers, and a new sign. They also weeded three other areas on the property, which then received new mulch, and picked up trash.
With any project comes challenges.
“First of all, there was a fence put up through my project, so I had to rethink how I was going to do the bridge,” Logan said. “We also had a lot of mulch, so we mulched different areas as well.”
Local businesses donated services or materials to the project, including AB Hatchery, Ron Smith Printing, Fresh Line Fencing, Bloomington Super Sign Service and Evergreen Lawnscape. The entire process took a little bit over two years.
McKenna Barba, shelter director at Wish Bone, and Logan said having a space where people can go to pay their respects for the pets they've lost is so important. There’s a pet cemetery adjacent to the shelter on the property.
Just a month ago, Barba lost her childhood dog Maisy to an aggressive cancer that restricted her breathing. She said losing a pet is so much more than losing an animal. It's equivalent to losing a family member.
"It's a terrible experience, it's really hard. But knowing that they're on the other side and waiting for you is nice to know,” Barba said.
Logan is most proud of how the Rainbow Bridge turned out and said it exceeded his expectations. He said he wants people to know they are not alone with dealing with the death of pets, and that's exactly what the Rainbow Bridge Memorial represents.
“I really hope that they realize that people care, and that people are there feeling with them, and to show that other people are there,” he said.
