Pokie & Dottie Skipper
Dear BARC, Please accept our humble and continued memorial donation on behalf of our beloved Pokie & Dottie, who passed away on March 23, 2006 & Nov. 23, 2007 respectively. I wish it could be more. By the grace of God and BARC, they came into our lives on Sept. 7, 1994, when we became their "Mom and Dad". As we have so often said, the happiness and love that they brought into our lives will be cherished forever and will remain in our hearts as a source of inspiration for the love and happiness they both gave to each other, to us, and to everyone they came in contact with. Again, we thank you for all that your wonderful organization does. Please know that our prayers will be with you always in your continued efforts to find Mom's and Dad's for all the other Pokie and Dottie's. You are family indeed! May you all have a very Merry Christmas and the New Year bring peace, love, happiness, and well-being in all that you do. - Sincerely, Skip & Rosanne (The Skipper Family)

Layla
Hello; -- I am not sure if this is the same BARC that we used for adoption of our beautiful Layla. Back on February 5, 2000, I took my wife Barbara out to Pet Smart in Temecula to adopt another dog. You see our beloved Goldie had passed from kidney disease and I wanted to give my bride a special gift on her birthday! ----- Well, that visit resulted in the adoption of Layla, BARC was the sponsor and she was the most beautiful, loving pet anyone could ever ask for. From Feb 5th that year we had many many good times with Layla. She lived inside our home with us and was very well behaved. Never a problem of any kind. She slept with us, ate with us, and were a family. Layla was sweet and loving to everyone she met. ----- Barbara and I had moved from our home in Corona where Layla lived out most of her time with Barb and I. We moved to Menifee in January of 2006. Layla loved her new home too. She was so full of life. ----- Yesterday, we noticed that Layla was not herself. Over time she had become tired, would not chase the ball that she dearly loved to do. She would not eat, and that was definitely not Layla. We decided that we had better take Layla to an emergency pet clinic on Sunday, & like a ton of bricks hit us, found that Layla had a tumor the size of a cantelope in her abdomen. After extensive testing the Doctor found that most likely the tumor had matasticized into vital organs. Barbara and I were faced with an immediate decision to have surgery that at best could by her six months, or to put her down. ----- Barbara and I had six wonderful years with that dog. Some of the best times we ever had were with Layla. She used to love to go to the dog beach at Huntington and play ball all day long. We took her on a high sierra fishing/camping trip one year and she loved every minute of it. ----- Layla was my wifes best friend. Barbara has several hobbies such as geneology, scrap booking, gardening etc. While Barb sat at her desk working Layla would be under the desk with her. If Barb moved, so did Layla. They were quite a pair. Every where Barbara went so went Layla. Yesterday, we lost a dear friend that will never be forgotten. ----- This is for anyone interested in adoption. The pain of the loss of a loved one is immense, and today, one day later the pain is no less than yesterday. However, had we not visited Pet Smart that day in February 2000, we would have never known the love of Layla. ----- Mike and Barbara

A litter of 6
The second time I fostered for BARC I took home a beautiful and extremely playful litter of 6. I only have a picture of the Siamese duo or I'd show them all. They were about 4 weeks old. The man who turned them into us wouldn't give us the mother, even though we told him without mom's milk they could die. I hope he at least got mom fixed. I was able to spend about 4 days with them all. They were so awesome, such little individuals with neat little movements and features, full of life and so cute to watch. I could watch them play and never tire of it; they made us all smile so easily. Then they began to get sick. In the space of just a few days (even with medical care) they all died, one by one. I wish the man had listened to us. I can't help but think if they had stayed with mom 2 more weeks at least they would have had the nutrition (and the immunity from most diseases) from her milk, as well as her special love and care. I'm a poor mom compared to the real thing. They would have made such wonderful family members for 6 lucky people. I think of kittens as individual little life’s, with feelings like mine, the ability to feel sad, lonely, scared, happy, content, secure...just like me. If they need care, I feel not only is it my pleasure to help them, but my responsibility. I wish the man who left them in his garage for 4 weeks then dumped them on us had felt that way. I still foster kittens. Each one is special and unique. They are an absolute joy to foster and I plan to foster as long as I possibly can. In memory of: -- ** Joker - a black spotted on long white silky fur jersey cow kitten that had the top cat personality. ** Ratty - a tiny Siamese, the runt, with a very long skinny tail and the first one to find a warm lap to sleep in. ** Jester - my favorite, a spotted cow like his brother, and such a little love bug, he like to be held in my lap as much as I loved having him there. ** Funny Face - A cute little Tuxedo, very calm and quiet, with a bright pink nose and an almost froggy look to his face. He was so cute. ** Simon - The most playful. A Siamese with white markings (he is the top cat in the picture). He loved to snuggle with his sister when he wasn't chewing on her. ** Precious - She was the first one sick, but she held out, got better, and we thought she was going to make it. After her littermates died she lived 4 days seemingly healthy and happy. She perched on our shoulders like a little parakeet. Her Siamese markings were so pretty, she was quite the dainty little lady. She went to sleep fat and healthy and died in the night. We were shocked. — They did have good lives at the end. They were pampered and well cared for while in my care. They made us all smile and laugh. I sure will miss all 6 of those innocent little angels.