Portia Nov. 15/05 to Nov. 5/07 :(

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lilspaz68

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
24,427
Location
Toronto, Canada, Earth
Today is the end of a special era in my life.

I had my wonderful, brave, tiny little fighter pts tonight. She was too stubborn for her own good and I had to make the decision for her. :cry:

Portia was a week old when she, her mom, and her siblings were found in these conditions: in an outbuilding at the edge of the park, a 10x8 room filled with racks of lab-style bin cages of mice and rats. They were terribly overcrowded, with up to 8 adolescent rats in one bin (and these bins were, by cage calculator standards, too small for even one rat). One bin held three mothers and their litters of a week or so old babies. To make matters worse, the staff charged with keeping them clean hasn't been dumping the litter, just adding more on top of the soiled stuff, so the poor rats have only a scant few inches of space in the bins between the litter and the lid. Most had no food in their bins. They were feeding them seed mix, when they were fed at all. I fed them and refilled any empty water bottles. There has to be at least 70 rats in there. I have no idea how many mice. It stinks of pee and feces, and all the rats were sneezing from the ammonia build up. These poor, mistreated, abused creatures are there only to feed the fox, owl, etc. and their lives are brutal as well as short.

A rescue effort spear-headed by Vanessa brought Portia and Ariel into my lives at 4.5 weeks old.

Portia just home, friendly sweet babies, my first babies that had been handled from a young age and were socialized properly. All my previous babies had been petstore :roll:

PortaandAriel.jpg

P45weeks2.jpg


Portia’s first intro…she and her sister met my big PEW girls Selene and Soma and very quickly they were a solid family, especially when tiny neutered Sebastian was added to the happy group.

Psfirstintro.jpg


Yummy grass with her sister…Portia closest
theStratfordrescuegirlsPortaandAri.jpg


11 months old now (on left)
PortaandArielat11mo.jpg


Comforting old Sebastian when he was ill. They all loved Sebbie, he was the glue of the entire family.
SebandP.jpg


Best Friends
Sebsgirlsfromthetop.jpg


Newer Friends
HappyolderhoodiesMay12.jpg


Remaining Friends and her surviving cagemates, Shadow and Rennie. Rennie loved Portia.
PortaShadowandRenniehaveadrink.jpg


Sadly Portia was my one survivor of the Happy Group of Selene, Soma, Ariel and Sebastian. The Happy Group are now reunited and I am sure that Selene, Soma and Ariel were waiting for her. :heart:
 
She was an absolute sweetheart, and a very good friend. She'll be terribly missed. Play hard, sweetheart.
 
I'm so sorry. :cry:

I remember when that was all happening, the rats from the shed... a few made it out while countless others weren't so lucky.

Portia was a lucky one.
 
That was a lovely tribute, she was a lovely girl, thank you for giving her such a wonderful life when it could've been so bad :roseopen:
 
I too remember when all that was happening with the rats in the shed.
Portia :heart: and Ariel :heart: were very fortunate little girls ....

You gave Portia :heart: and Ariel :heart: wonderful lives.
Thank you for sharing Portia's :heart: touching tribute, your memories and pictures. Such a special little girl.

take good care of yourself
 
I'm sorry for your loss.
I was actually going to ask you about them recently. I have lost both Sebastian and John Paul in the last month. Both had gone down hill very quickly recently. John Paul had been in twice to see Dr. Luckwadlt, but he didn't pull through. Sebastian came out of his throat surgery like a trooper, but went down hill fast a few months later.
I had been wondering how their siblings were faring. I guess, in the end, their background ensured that none of them reach a ripe old age.
 
SHELAGH - MORE THAN AN ANGEL

The young pup and the older dog lay on shaded sweet grass, watching the reunions.

Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes a whole family would approach the Rainbow Bridge to be greeted by their loving pets and cross the bridge together.

The young pup playfully nipped at the older one:"Look! Something wonderful is happening!"

The older dog stood up and barked:"Quickly! Get over to the path."
"But that's not my owner," whined the pup, but did as he was told.

Thousands of pets surged forward as a figure in white walked toward the bridge.

As the glowing figure passed each of the animals, that animal bowed it's head in love and respect.

The figure finally approached the bridge, and was met by a menagerie of joyous animals.

Together they walked over the bridge and disappeared.

The young pup was still in awe. "Was that an angel?" he whispered.

"No, son" the older dog replied. "That was more than an angel. That was a RESCUER!"
 
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