By Siobhan Brier
After Becky Cyr graduated from college, she was living outside of Boston, and every day, on her way to get coffee, she walked past the studio of a stained glass artist. She became friends with the artist and later began walking his dog, Max. She calls Max her “gateway dog.”
So, when Becky moved to California, she started volunteering at the Burbank Animal Shelter. “I loved being around those animals,” she said, but, at the same time, the work opened her eyes to many of the difficult parts of the shelter system. She realized, for example, how reliant shelters are upon selfless volunteers.
During her undergraduate studies at Tufts University, she knew that she wanted to work in the nonprofit sector as soon as she was able. Her first nonprofit job after college was at an international mental health foundation in Boston, where she worked for over two years before moving to California.
That experience, combined with her newfound interest in animal sheltering and welfare, primed her for the career that she has had ever since 2012. When Becky saw the chance to work for Michelson Found Animals in their grants program, she jumped on it.
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Gustavo Barksdale
Becky described Gus, full name Gustavo Barksdale, as her “soul-dog.”
“He was the primary constant in my life for 10 years,” she said, “He saw me through several heartbreaks, accompanied me on hundreds of miles of hikes, and was the sweetest son, husband, roommate, and coworker you could ever hope to have.”
But falling in love with a rescue pup added a new sense of urgency to Becky’s work with Michelson.
“If the circumstances of Gus’s life had been just slightly different, we might never have met,” Becky explained. “If he had been taken to a kill shelter instead of scooped up by a rescue organization, my soul-dog might not have made it out alive. The healthy, adoptable animals that die in shelters every day are all someone’s potential soul-cats and soul-dogs.”
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Gus’s Glass
When Becky’s gateway dog, Max, passed away, she was living in California. One day, she got a package from Boston. In it was a small paperweight, a glass orb. She called her friend, the stained glass artist, back in Boston, and he explained that when he made the orb, he had incorporated a swirl of Max’s ashes in it. He told her that he wanted her to always have that small part of the first dog she loved.
Gus passed away in September 2022 after a long life of being adored. Becky points out that Michelson played a large role in allowing her to share so much time with Gus during his lifetime. “Working at Found Animals – first in a dog-friendly office, and then as a permanently remote employee – made it possible for me to be with him for almost every moment of his life,” She said. “How many pet parents get to be in that lucky position?”
After Gus’s passing, Becky had him cremated and then flew to Boston to meet up with her friend, Dan Maher, the stained glass artist.
Dan used some of Gus’s ashes to create seven ethereally beautiful glass orbs, with Gus’s ashes floating inside in a swirl, like a soul. Becky gave four of these orbs to close friends and family who were important fixtures in Gus’s life and kept three for herself.
The glass orbs serve as a visual reminder of the startling impact an animal can have on our lives and why the well-being of animals is so important. They remind us why the time, the grants, the focus, the late nights, and the tears are not misplaced, so long as they help improve the life of even one animal.
On behalf of Michelson Found Animals, thank you, Becky Cyr, for the selfless work you do for animals, and thank you to Gus as well for reminding us why we do the work we do.
Originally published on foundanimals.org.
