Casey Richardson The Critteraid Animal Sanctuary in Summerland is mourning the loss of one of their beloved alpacas after his brother died a few weeks before. Lori Huot-Stewart, president of Critteraid, shared words on Gideon's passing from the rescue, which are shared unedited below: Sometimes in rescue, some weeks are a little rougher than others, and last week we experienced one that was pretty bad. As we were suffering the loss of another beautiful gift that we had with us for about 15 yeasrs.
His name was Gideon, he's one of our alpacas, and this week has been really rough. And every time I pass a gate or I pass this pen, or I drive in the yard, I'm revisiting this wave of emotion, and it has reminded me that everybody that goes through this with pets, that have moments that you realize you have to say goodbye. It is an excruciating amount of pain that you go through, and sometimes it is overwhelming and engulfs you.
I am reminding everybody to take a moment, to take the time. Don't push it down. Don't think it's going to go away tomorrow.
You have to work through the process. There are people out there that you can go and talk to. Grief counseling is a really important step for us, and during this moment, it was just a opportunity for me to share with you a reminder to acknowledge the feelings, love the memories, and make sure that you go take the time for yourself and speak to somebody.
It will help. Critteraid has a 10-acre property that hosts a multitude of animals that the charity has saved, including dozens of cats, pigs, dogs, ducks, cows, llamas and goats. The organization works hard to look after its furry friends, being completely run by volunteers and donations.
More information can be found online here. Photo: Contributed.
