Seven Days is made by animal lovers. In 2014, so many of our employees wanted to bring their pups to the office that we had to set a daily dog limit, establish a sign-up sheet and spell out a Canine Code of Conduct.
At the front of the pack was a charismatic West Highland white terrier named Rufus. For years, the foot-high Westie came to work every day with his dad, production manager John “Jingles” James, and happily presided over the design desk. He worked long hours being adorable and was listed in the masthead — with a different job title — every week.
My favorite: News Hound.
When Rufus died, in July 2019, we listed many more of his nicknames on the Seven Days Facebook page, along with two dozen photos of him in myriad outfits, on various laps. The next month, on August 14, he was memorialized on the cover of our annual Animal Issue, in a red bow tie.
“He went out like the rock star he was,” John recalled.
If Rufus were human, John certainly would have memorialized his best friend in writing. But there was no place in the paper to express his thoughts and appreciation on the printed page — until now.
Timed to coincide with the 2023 Animal Issue, this week Seven Days is unleashing Fur-ever Loved — published pet memorials that acknowledge the animals that give us so much joy in their too-short lives. John designed the graphics and has been spreading the word about the new service.
“Nobody is doing anything like this,” he said, noting that some veterinary hospitals offer cremation and/or a paw print accompanied by a generic condolence poem. “It’s nice to be able to honor your pets, in your own words, because you know the most about your animals, their quirks and personality traits,” John said.
“They are each special in their own way,” he added. “It’s good to let people know how much you loved them.”
I couldn’t agree more. When my last cat, Frankie, died more than a year ago, I wrote about his untimely end in this column. I also tried to convey his many charms.
The piece struck a nerve. Emails, snail-mail letters and cards poured in from readers who identified with my tale of love and loss. They shared stories of their own, painstakingly describing beloved pets and how they died.
Channeling grief into written language is cathartic, in my experience. I highly recommend it. There’s comfort in knowing you are not alone.
Those are some of the reasons we like Fur-ever Loved, which is in the classified section, the cover of which features an animal up for adoption at the Humane Society of Chittenden County. “I hope people use it,” John said. “Or just enjoy it.” This week’s selection of critters includes a couple of pet chickens.
Rufus is in there, too. Four years after his death, the little terrier is getting a proper tribute. One thing John left out of the write-up on page 79: The cute pictures of Rufus he included in his online dating profile helped attract his partner, Mary, who is also an animal lover.
John and Mary moved in together four years before Rufus died. Now parents to Yuki, Rocket and Brinley, all of whom are rescues, they’re sharing a happy and hectic three-dog life.
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This article appears in The Animal Issue 2023.
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