Honour Shannon-kearns (2007 – 2022)

Their Story

Honour • how do I even start to tell you about Honour? I don't think there are enough words to tell you how much this amazing beautiful little lady meant to me… the ways that she's always been there in my darkest times, the pure love that I felt every single time she was in my presence and the strength she gave me in the 14 years that I was blessed to have her in my life. this beautiful little baby chose me to be her dad when she was only a few weeks old, one of my friends’ next door neighbours dog had puppies and Honour was one of only three white coloured of the litter. The owners had planned to keep all three of the white puppies including Honour. I was there most days helping look after the puppies and me and Honour just had a connection from the start, she was the one who would always stick me like glue and she loved cuddles and a fuss being made of her. those long ginger coloured eyelashes of hers melted my heart, and it truly feels like only yesterday still. So one day I was sick with the flu and I was home in bed feeling awful, my friend called me and said that she heard all this scratching at the front door and when she opened it, it was chucking it down with rain and a little soaking wet Honour came bounding in her house frantically searching all the rooms for me! The one day that I didn't go round to see the puppies and she decided to come looking for me. The owners could see how much Honour loved me and reluctantly offered to sell her to me if I wanted her despite them planning to keep her. It was a no brainer for me needless to say, and the rest as they say is history! Honour was the most gentle most loving soul that I've ever known, she would never hurt fly, she never attacked any other animals or humans. She was a lover. She was adored by everyone that ever met her, she was really the most amazing companion I could've ever had wished for in my life. Honour is my main inspiration for wanting to help all animals not just domestic but exotic as well we dipped our toes into the world of exotic animals years ago when my family got an African Grey parrot her name is Bonnie and she is almost 30 years old now she's a massive part of our family and every now and then she will still calls the names Honour and Robbie (my mum's very possessive Doberman) not understanding where they have gone. But more recently, I've had the absolute honour of getting the chance to keep and learn about other exotic birds such as parrotlets, cocktails and love birds. I think the most exotic animals I got a chance to explore was when we adopted two baby marmoset monkeys Beulah and Micha. Without Honour, I would never have had the motivation or the drive to get up and make a difference in this world while I'm still here. After my mum and dad died in 2012 in 2014, Honour was constantly by my side stopping me from fully going off the rails and doing something stupid because had to think of Honour, she relied on me and needed. The day Honour left this world, shattered whatever was left of my heart. I felt numb to everything but pain. I blame myself because Honour’s back legs had given out on her, and that’s usually a sign that they are near the end of their life, I was devastated but I had to make sure she wasn’t in pain so I rushed her to the animal hospital. I would have done anything to keep her with me as long as I could, and when they vet told me that she’s not end of life and they think it was something else, they wanted to keep her in and run some bloods and other tests, that was a bit of hope for me! I left her with the vet with all her comfort bits and bobs, blankies, toys etc. and I went and checked into to a local hotel so I was just over the road from her and didn’t need to travel out of town away from her. she got worse and they had to put tubes up her nose to help her breath and she was on a drip, I wasn’t able to visit her for the next 2 days because the vet said she needed to settle and was getting better. On day 3 the vet said I could pop in after close and see her, she was hooked up to the drip with the tubes in her nose still, my baby looked so poorly :( she tried to get excited to see me but she was so weak, I just crawled into the the kennel with her with a new teddy and blankie I got for her and just laid with her giving her cuddles telling her how much I love her. The vet told me she was on the mend and I could see her again tomorrow, so I kissed her all over her face and told her daddy would be back tomorrow and that I loved her. the next morning my phone rang at 6am… i knew then! they told me Honour had gone into cardiac arrest early hours and they resuscitated her the first time, but shortly after it happened again and they couldn’t save her. my legs went from underneath me and I collapsed on the floor heartbrokenly sobbing, I should have been there with her! She wasn’t supposed to go without me being with her, and I’ll never forgive myself for not being there. I got dressed and ran to the vets, they took me into a room where she was laid in her blankie, I got on the floor with her and just held her for hours in so much pain and filled with regrets. My sister had to travel 30 miles to the vets to come and say goodbye and get me to leave, I didn’t want to say goodbye to her. I miss her more than ever it doesn't get easier but I'm learning to carry on still keeping her memory alive by pushing forward with this project. I know Honour would want me to do something with my life and I think she would want me to help animals in need, domestic or exotic and that's exactly what I'm going to do in memory of and for my baby, Honour. we love and miss you so much my darling girl, fly high and shine you beautiful soul xxxx