After hearing about poor Mafi leaving us, one of our ex-staff members, lovely Anne Marie McGivern, wrote wondering why Mafi didn’t show any obvious signs of being sick:

“Was that in a way her final and total selfless legacy to us – to leave us with nothing but happy and joyful memories of her life at the center?

Often these wonderful bears’ lives are cut so tragically short, but each imparts a lesson and teaches us the true value of forgiveness, trust and respect. Ultimately, they show us how to love in the most fundamental and hardest way – unconditionally.

If our lives were so selfless what a truly wonderful world we would have. Yet we know their spirits live on and as we remember them there will always be pain and a sense of loss, yet this is superseded by a sense of awe and wonder at how blessed we were to be allowed to be a part of their lives. To be trusted by them.

Surely, in truth they gave more to us than we ever gave to them? So, we should live our own lives as a tribute to them – it would be no sacrifice to treat each other with trust and respect, would it?”

How right Anne-Marie is.... to love like our own dogs and cats - unconditionally, perfectly, our lives richer and fulfilled.