Plaque honours Jean’s four guide dogs

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A special memorial has been erected in Warwick to honour four special guide dogs.

Dr Andrew Madeiros, veterinarian at Ettrick Animal Hospital in Warwick, put up the granite plaque with pictures of the four beloved guide dogs of Jean Howes, 85, who is blind. Their names, Moon, Mandy, Walnut, and Quana, are written on the plaque in Braille. Her last guide dog, Quana died in 2010, and she has no plans to get another, due to her age.

“All my dogs are buried behind the Ettrick animal hospital,” she said.

“Dr Madeiros did that for me. I don’t think there are any other guide dogs on the Island right now. There was someone else who had a guide dog at one time, but he doesn’t any more.”

Dr Madeiros said when the Labrador retrievers were first buried behind Ettrick it was an empty lot but the property has since been developed, and the area is now in his own back yard. He provided veterinary care to all her dogs, over the years.

“Health-wise and behaviour-wise, guide dogs are like any other animal,” he said. “What can be challenging is if the animal becomes ill, the owner’s visual challenges can make it difficult to find out what is wrong with them. If the dog has been vomiting or is doing something outside the owner might not be able to tell.”

He said he was very happy to put up the plaque to honour Mrs Howes’ dogs as they were very special.

“She as an animal lover,” he said. “And she has been a client at Ettrick for a long time. It is unusual that the four dogs were buried on that one spot. She was excited about it. It looks nice and some climbing roses are planted around it. It is a nice quiet area. I have always had a soft spot for working dogs, and a great admiration for guide dogs.”

Dr Madeiros said he also included a little phrase from a poem called ‘Rainbow Bridge’ which is about the loss of a pet.

See a copy of the poem at www.tagsintx.org/rainbow-bridge.php

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