We honour animals when they die, just like we do humans, by laying them to rest with love and attention. Here's a blog posting from Iain in Japan talking about a well loved family dog, Kuu, and his final resting place.
Last April I was being pulled around the neighbourhood by Kuu, and waking early to his cries. For food? For a walk? I remember him as an uplifting kind of a critter, because that's how I felt walking out with him beside the greening rice paddies. It was spring time.
The forty-nine days mentioned in Iain's post relates to the bardo, translated as "in-between state". In our tradition we have a series of exhortations which are read to the terminally ill and newly dead. Relatives or friends may also choose to do a forty-nine day retreat following a death.
