Goodbye Bess

A couple of weeks ago my dog, Bess, sadly passed away. She was an old girl, and she was slowly deteriorating with age, but remained happy and comfortable right up to the end. Our zoo vet, Alan K Jones, kept a close eye on her for me over her last few months and was there with me when she finally and peacefully passed away while I was stroking her.

I wasn't going to put a post up about her, and many of your probably never met her, but I know a lot of you have and many of you that don't follow me on Facebook but do frequent the Centre have been in contact... word spread quick, but that is a testament to how well she was known by the visitors.

So, I thought I would just put half a dozen pics up of Bess that I had not shared on this blog before. The top one in the snow is one of my favourites... one that I had not really looked at until the other week, and wondered why I never edited it.

Above is an old one of her not long after she came to me, and before I really took any photos.

This is one from earlier last year while testing out the bluebells for our owl photography days we sometimes do in the bluebells. She was always my stand in owl for scoping out these days, and what opportunities we had.

A lovely one of her fresh out the water before shaking off.

And one of the last photos I took of her, end of last year. She was practically blind at this stage... but still smiling and happy to be with me.

Bess was more than just a "pet". She was my best friend, loyal companion and work mate... really part of the BWC team. Even up to the day before she passed, she was with me at work helping to skin the deer for evening feeds. Bess was rarely not with me, and a lot of people called her my shadow. It has been very strange the last two weeks with out her company, but when things have settled I will be looking to for a new work colleague to join the family.

I realised when our vet told me last summer that it was the beginning of the end, that I didn't have any photos of me with her. I still don't really, not that I mind as I prefer to remember her through my photos and memories, but I did take a couple of pics with my fisheye lens last summer. The above was the best of a bad bunch.

To hear more about her, and how we met, take a look at this link.... Bess

Thanks for looking :-)