LAKE LURE, N.C. — Amy Wald has always loved art. Just one year ago she went to the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge and noticed there was an empty spot.

The rustic furniture builder had an idea.

“I just thought about what you do when you remember pets,” Wald said.

Wald had recently lost two dogs, Molly and Barkley. Her husband showed her the rainbow bridge poem. That’s when she decided to build a rainbow bridge.

“It’s a different kind of loss, because it’s not just someone you saw on holidays. You’re losing someone that was there basically 24 hours a day. Unless you’re working they are there with you,” Wald said.

She hung the names of those two dogs along with 10 other animals she had in her life. Now, hundreds, possibly thousands, of collars hang on the bridge.

It’s drawing people in from all over the world to leave a collar, a note, a toy, a tennis ball or even a treat for their animal that’s no longer here.

“People say it makes you feel sad, and I say maybe for a second. After that you just feel good, and you realize you’re not the only one who loved their pet as much as you did,” Wald said.

Recently, they added this section of railing because there was no room left on the bridge. Just two weeks later, it’s nearly covered as well. Wald is adding another railing soon. She’s also taking it one step further with stairs leading to the water.

“We are going to build it so they can get down to the river and put ashes in the river,” Wald said.

Wald says she hopes other areas make rainbow bridges like this one for people to remember their animals by. She has even had people mail her collars and asked if their animal could be placed on the bridge.