WORLDWIDE — Back in 2015, award-winning blogger, author and CEO of ZZP Publishing Deborah Barnes announced the first annual Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, still observed on August 28, as a special day for pet parents to honor the memory of cherished pets who have passed on.

The American Veterinary Medical Association notes that over 42 percent of American households have dogs and 32.6 percent have cats, totaling 87.3 million dogs and 76.3 million cats.

Other pets include fish, reptiles, birds, small caged mammals, rabbits, horses and poultry.

“Barnes, who has had a parade of cats, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs her whole life, understands all too well that they are far more than just pets—they are beloved family members that can often live for 15 years or longer, depending on the breed and species,” according to a news release announcing the holiday.

Since pet parents typically have a much longer lifespan than their beloved companions, letting go is inevitable and saying goodbye can be one of the most painful experiences a pet parent will ever go through; that is why she decided to create a special day dedicated to honoring the memories of those lost pets worldwide, Barnes wrote at the time.

She chose August 28 in tribute to her ragdoll cat, Mr. Jazz, to whom she had to say goodbye on August 28, 2013. She shared the journey of his loss in her book, “Purr Prints of the Heart—A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond,” a “warm and heartfelt meow memoir written in the wise and comforting voice of Mr. Jazz himself as he narrates his life and death journey,” offering guidance and understanding through a cat’s perspective as to why sometimes letting a pet go can be the greatest gift you give them.

Barnes already knew from the feedback she got from readers of her blog, Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles, where she briefly shared her experiences about losing Mr. Jazz and the range of emotions she felt after his death—from guilt, to anger, to denial and more—that she was not alone in her feelings of intense pain and grief. 

This prompted her to write and publish “Purr Prints,” but she admits she “was in no way prepared” for the outpouring of support and understanding she would receive from readers who told her how much the book helped them to process their own feelings of grief from pets they had lost, she wrote.

People obviously grieved deeply and wanted to talk about the loss of their pets. 

And even though August 28 is in the past, pet parents can still take a moment to remember and mourn.

In 2015, Barnes wrote that she hoped Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day would become an annual event and rather than it being a day of sadness, she wanted it to be “a celebration—a time to remember those pets we have lost with love and happiness—for however long or short their time on this earth was.”

Read Barnes’ blog at www.zeezoey.com/blog.