FixNation participated in Los Angeles’ annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Celebration at the famous Hollywood Forever cemetery, held this year on Oct. 24. Co-founder Karn Myers and her dedicated team created an amazing interactive altar in honor of lost and deceased cats. The popular altar was also a chance to educate the public about FixNation’s work on behalf of the untold numbers of homeless, stray and feral cats still living amongst us in LA.
This was FixNation’s 6th appearance at the Day of the Dead event, and we are proud to be the only animal welfare organization invited by the cemetery’s owners to participate. Over the years, FixNation has fixed more than 100 cats living on the Hollywood Forever grounds!
FixNation asked cat lovers to send in photos of their dearly departed felines, which were framed and displayed throughout the altar area. Many pet guardians came to the altar in person and eagerly searched for their beloved kitty’s photo. We were thrilled that so many people sent in photos of feral cats as well as companion animals. As darkness fell, miniature electric candles and strings of twinkling lights illuminated the altar and its dozens of individual shrines.
The altar was lavishly decorated with bowls of cat food, kitty toys, plastic feline skeletons, small wooden carvings of cats, tissue paper cut-outs of cat faces, and paper-mâché cat heads. Also represented were photos of Cecil, the beautiful African lion who was tragically killed by an American trophy-hunter, and a photo and painting of Tiger, a pet cat who was deliberately and needlessly slain by a veterinarian with a bow and arrow.
The altar included long walls covered with craft paper, where people could write tributes to their cats. There were many tears shed as grieving cat lovers young and old penned heartfelt tributes to their deceased feline friends. Sad tributes were also made to lost kitties. There are thousands and thousands of lost, stray and abandoned cats roaming the streets of Los Angeles, as many people learned from informative brochures handed out at the FixNation altar. For many children attending the event, a pet’s death was their first experience with grief and loss. A number of people expressed sincere gratitude for having an opportunity to mourn with other animal lovers and share stories and memories of their much-loved pet.
In addition to many unique altars and remembrances, the festival offers live music, Aztec dancers, films projected on the sides of mausoleums, picnics on top of gravestones, and rows and rows of souvenir stands, food vendors and face painters. Things became more and more festive as day turned to night and thousands of costumed visitors flocked to the festival.
All FixNation volunteers and staff at the event were decked out in traditional Day of the Dead costumes, complete with painted faces, Mexican-style headpieces and embroidered dresses. The Day of the Dead was a wonderful and powerfully emotional event, and all of us at FixNation are looking forward to doing it again next year!
