02/14/2026
This is a post I was hoping not to have to make. Linken Bark has been on palliative care for the past few months struggling with osteoarthritis & degenerative joint disease. We started acupuncture and laser therapy in November with Dr Wu at Fraser Heights Animal Hospital and this greatly improved his quality of life.
Unfortunately he has not responded very well to his last treatment and his mobility is quickly getting worse. Linken is on a plethora of pain medication but now this is starting not to be enough. He is getting so very tired and is letting us know his time to cross the rainbow bridge is quickly approaching. We were hoping we were going to get to celebrate his 9th birthday next month but sadly we no longer see this happening
Linken has been a therapy dog with St John Ambulance for just under 8 years. We have been serving the community of Abbotsford for 5 years and the city of Surrey for 2 years previously. Linken has brought so much joy to the people he has visited including children at Canuck Place, patients at the hospital and of course his favourite event of the year - the Canada Day Parade
If you have had the pleasure of meeting Linken you know how much he loves people and therapy visits have been a big part of our lives. As such we are going to be holding a celebration of life for Linken so he can have 1 more day of meet and greets with the public before officially retiring as a therapy dog and before we have to make that hard decision to say goodbye.
We will be holding his celebration of life at Mill Lake Park next Saturday from 1-4. We will be on the north side of the lake just west of the parking lot at the undercover area. Linken will be there rain or shine, though thr forecast is predicting sunshine, and would really love to see as many people as he can.
This is not an easy decision but we know this is what he would want. Yes there will tears but we will have plenty of tissue to go around. Come down and give him hugs, a tasty treat, and share stories of how you met Linken our most magicalist of unicorns.
Also if you could please share our post to spread the word that would be greatly appreciated đź’ś