 Barked: Sat Jul 18, '09 9:25pm PST |
 | |  | | This is a very opinionated and heartfelt post. I've been feeling the need to express my opinion on the matter lately... maybe posting one of my journal entries will do the trick. If you have a family member or parent or room mate who doesn't allow your dog in the house, give them this... maybe it will change their mind.
On May 28th, as you know, God (if you exist, I question it every day)- I lost my beloved dogs, Jake, Joey, and Nari to ethylene glycol poisoning. You took them away from me. One day they were here, and the next, you ripped them from my grasp and forced me let their soulful eyes melt into lifelessness and put them in the filty ground. Once again in life, my soul was taken away from me. Ripped away.
All because,
I left them out in my fenced, out of sight backyard while I took a shower- they were unsupervised. I did not keep them inside and safe as usual. I thought they would enjoy the fresh air. I didn't think anything could happen to them. We have a fenced in yard, they aren't barkers, and we don't live in a terrible neighborhood...
But the worst happened. Someone came into my yard and gave them antifreeze, a killer- when ingested by any living thing.
I noticed them acting funny, "drunk", drinking a lot, and urinating excessively- so I took them to the vet. It only took about a day for the ethylene glycol to shut down their kidneys. And I had to euthanize all three of them. In one day.
Being the victim of Dogster's biggest known tragedy wasn't what I expected- I got so much more support than I could ever imagine... but the pain lingers on, and as many cards and gifts as I may recieve... none of them will bring my babies back. Losing my dogs has made me stronger in some ways, but in many other ways it has made me weaker- and I will always live with guilt.
Would you like to live with guilt?
I feel like I contributed to my dogs' killings every day...
All because of one mistake.
I left my dogs outside.
Unattended.
It was not the norm, but I did it because I thought it would be okay "just this once".
Now let's think if all the dogs owners in the world made that mistake... that's a lot of hurt, poisoned, stolen, beaten, burnt, skinned, fought, shot, escaped, lost dogs in the world. And it's a known fact that dogs need to be around their family. As many excuses as one makes that they get plenty of attention in the backyard, they don't get the same type of socialization and attention an indoor dog gets when it's inside and interacting with the family.
And if one just hates to have their dog in the house, or the dog chews? Why not resort to crating or locking it in one room like I did? The dog doesn't like being inside? Well, kids don't like eating their vegetables... that doesn't mean they shouldn't eat them. The dog's too hairy? It's called a brush and shampoo. Use them. Dog not trained? Obedience classes! So easy a caveman can do it!
There's just NO excuse why dogs should be outside... and although my dogs weren't normally outdoor dogs... I left them outside for only the shortest time unsupervised... and I lost all of them.
So God (if you're up there) please keep all those outside doggies safe, and change their crazy owners' minds. No dog deserves to go through the pain, illness, poking, and prodding mine went through before they died. Every dog deserves to die old and peacefully in their sleep. And no owner deserves to feel to guilt... that I will feel for the rest of my life.
Please?
I hope this will change someone's mind out there... I have to say that having your heart broken feels better than feeling constant guilt... and no dog should ever be left outside...Edited by author Sat Jul 18, '09 9:26pm PST
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And you take care of young Ando... because Ando is a reflection of what is good and joyful in life.
