Joyner area residents plan memorial garden for pets killed by vicious dogs
The memorial will feature stones with paintings of the faces of the cats who were victims of the attacks
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – On a recent weekend, several Joyner area homeowners gathered at this green space in the historic neighborhood, with one mission.
They are sprucing up the space for a special project, honoring their pets, who were victims of the dog attacks.
‘A lot of us cat owners are very mad, very sad, upset,” said Alyssa Martin.
Alyssa’s cat, Rose, was killed in the early morning hours of October 30th, along with several other cats in the neighborhood.
She wanted to do something to give pet owners an outlet to express their grief. That’s how the idea for the Joyner Pet memorial garden came about.
“While we can’t go back in the past and change what happened, we can push for change in the future, and one way is dedicating a space to cats we lost this year and giving cat owners a place to reflect on the good times we had with them,” Martin said.
The memorial will include stones, painted with the cats’ faces. Local artist Miranda Andrews, with the Butterfly Effect Painting Ministry, wanted to help memorialize the special pets.
“I will paint the portraits of the animal, and we will have the community come and help us glaze them, maybe owners, if they want to write something that goes with the back of the rock, we can seal that, and it will last in the weather,” Andrews said.
“We are all united in our anger, grief, but getting to come together through something so terrible, being able to turn something like this into a beautiful project is letting us see something beautiful at the end of a very tragic situation,” Martin said.
The community is also donating money for the memorial garden. Funds will be used to pay for the stones, paint and other supplies for the project. The decorative stones should be in place by early Spring.
Both of the vicious dogs were reportedly shot by a police officer after the attacks on October the 30.
