For some reason, the last few months have been especially difficult for the animal lovers in my circles. My parents and several good friends have lost their beloved pets in just the last week. My sister and several other friends have as well in the last couple of months.
There are only a few ways for it to happen when you boil it down. Sometimes an accident or acute illness takes one from us very suddenly. There is shock and sadness, but at least we know he didn't suffer. Other times old age creeps up and takes one. It doesn't make it any easier to know it's coming, but he has lived a long, full life. If we are being realistic, is there anything else, anything better we could ask for? Then, there's the toughest one. A pet is ailing and we know he isn't going to get better. There are more bad days than good. Anyone who has had to make a call like this will tell you that the pet lets you know when he is ready.
I read an excerpt from a book several years ago that said animals do not fear death the way we do. They do not dread what is to come. They live in the moment and that is what makes them such beautiful creatures. The problem is that even knowing this, we are still devastated. This is one situation that knowledge cannot mitigate. It doesn't matter that we know the suffering will end. And it's hard to know whether or not we are being selfish by keeping them with us one day longer. The final act of mercy we can give our companions is to end the suffering when the time comes.
To me, the people who are the most selfish are the ones who refuse to accompany their long-time friend and companion on his final transition. Dogs have been domesticated by us for thousands of years to crave our company. Their very DNA has been bent to convince them that humankind is the center of the universe. They trust us. To abandon a soul like this, either by dropping him off at a shelter or leaving him at a vet for their office to do the dirty work because it's "too difficult" is unforgivable as far as I am concerned.
Everyone who reads this will have similar experiences in loss. My parents had to take their little schnauzer, Gretchen, on her final journey last week. I remember her as a spry, barky puppy...not as the blind and deaf senior lady she had become. My dad took her out to their land and buried her because he felt like that was where she would want to be. She was 13.
Some very dear friends had to make a similar decision last week. A final act of mercy. Their sweet boxer had stopped eating and they learned she had late-stage lymphoma. I remember when they brought her home 10 years ago. They named her after Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, companion of heroes. She had the sweetest smushy boxer face you'd ever see.
Sixteen years ago, a fellow animal rescuer brought a tiny beagle home with her "temporarily". On Saturday, she spent his last day on earth with him. A final act of mercy. I am convinced that if all it took to keep our pets alive was our unconditional love, that rescuers would have pets that lived exactly as long as they did. Of course that would mean that we as humans are capable of the type of unselfish love that dogs bestow upon us.
So now that you're sufficiently depressed, there is one other type of loss...but this one you can help with. As I said earlier, showing a pet a final act of mercy by ending his suffering is one of the most noble things we can do in this life. What if the final act of our mercy isn't ending a life, but giving our pets a better one?
There is a clause in the Mazie's Mission adoption contract that says the adopter agrees to notify us if there is ever a time when the adopter can no longer care for this pet. We want to make sure that the animals we have spent so much time on rehabilitating never have to set a paw inside a shelter again if at all possible. If an adopter is having difficulties, we offer any assistance we can give. We supply things like food and other basic necessities. We work with a local non-profit called Hope's Door that takes in victims of domestic violence to offer temporary foster solutions for their pets. And on the rare occasion that despite all efforts, pets have to be returned, we assist the adopter in re-homing pets they can no longer care for. If you have followed us for a long time, you may remember Rally, a pit bull mix whose facial injuries from abuse had to have several surgeries. Her name is Eleanor Rigby now.
When we first pulled her from Dallas Animal Services, she had a missing lip, prolapsed uterus and bronchopneumonia:
You may also remember Ox, a gorgeous black lab who was left tied up to a dumpster and picked up by local animal services. He now goes by Miles Davis:
They have lived happily together for the last 3 years, but their adopter contacted us last week and explained that she could no longer adequately take care of their needs. This is not a case of "I got new curtains and the dogs don't match them now" or "I'm moving tomorrow and need someone to take these dogs". The first line of the email read, "This is the hardest email I've ever had to write".
Without going into all of the personal details, these two sweet dogs need new homes through no fault of their own. We have been given a couple of months to find a place for them to go.
It is very easy to judge someone. It is not easy to stand up and do something. Last year, we helped a woman with terminal cancer re-home her precious yorkie. Somehow, the universe gave me the fortitude to sit with that lady for 30 minutes while she talked about how she believed that our volunteer, who met her at Baylor hospital, was an angel sent to her to help find a loving place for Tootsie to go, without bawling my eyes out. This final act of mercy was one of the bravest, most self-less things I've ever seen in my life. I defy anyone to say that she should have just kept the dog.
We are asking for your help in doing the right thing. If you are able to foster or adopt either Rigby (Rally) or Miles (Ox) please contact us as soon as
possible. The adopter says they do
not have to stay together. They love each other, but are not
inseparably bonded the way some dogs are. They are currently in Oak Cliff, just south of Dallas.
Thank you for sharing so that we can assist this family in their final act of mercy for Rigby and Miles. They will see this post, so if you have any similar stories, please share them here. Pain shared is divided.
<3
There are only a few ways for it to happen when you boil it down. Sometimes an accident or acute illness takes one from us very suddenly. There is shock and sadness, but at least we know he didn't suffer. Other times old age creeps up and takes one. It doesn't make it any easier to know it's coming, but he has lived a long, full life. If we are being realistic, is there anything else, anything better we could ask for? Then, there's the toughest one. A pet is ailing and we know he isn't going to get better. There are more bad days than good. Anyone who has had to make a call like this will tell you that the pet lets you know when he is ready.
I read an excerpt from a book several years ago that said animals do not fear death the way we do. They do not dread what is to come. They live in the moment and that is what makes them such beautiful creatures. The problem is that even knowing this, we are still devastated. This is one situation that knowledge cannot mitigate. It doesn't matter that we know the suffering will end. And it's hard to know whether or not we are being selfish by keeping them with us one day longer. The final act of mercy we can give our companions is to end the suffering when the time comes.
To me, the people who are the most selfish are the ones who refuse to accompany their long-time friend and companion on his final transition. Dogs have been domesticated by us for thousands of years to crave our company. Their very DNA has been bent to convince them that humankind is the center of the universe. They trust us. To abandon a soul like this, either by dropping him off at a shelter or leaving him at a vet for their office to do the dirty work because it's "too difficult" is unforgivable as far as I am concerned.
Everyone who reads this will have similar experiences in loss. My parents had to take their little schnauzer, Gretchen, on her final journey last week. I remember her as a spry, barky puppy...not as the blind and deaf senior lady she had become. My dad took her out to their land and buried her because he felt like that was where she would want to be. She was 13.
Some very dear friends had to make a similar decision last week. A final act of mercy. Their sweet boxer had stopped eating and they learned she had late-stage lymphoma. I remember when they brought her home 10 years ago. They named her after Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, companion of heroes. She had the sweetest smushy boxer face you'd ever see.
Sixteen years ago, a fellow animal rescuer brought a tiny beagle home with her "temporarily". On Saturday, she spent his last day on earth with him. A final act of mercy. I am convinced that if all it took to keep our pets alive was our unconditional love, that rescuers would have pets that lived exactly as long as they did. Of course that would mean that we as humans are capable of the type of unselfish love that dogs bestow upon us.
So now that you're sufficiently depressed, there is one other type of loss...but this one you can help with. As I said earlier, showing a pet a final act of mercy by ending his suffering is one of the most noble things we can do in this life. What if the final act of our mercy isn't ending a life, but giving our pets a better one?
There is a clause in the Mazie's Mission adoption contract that says the adopter agrees to notify us if there is ever a time when the adopter can no longer care for this pet. We want to make sure that the animals we have spent so much time on rehabilitating never have to set a paw inside a shelter again if at all possible. If an adopter is having difficulties, we offer any assistance we can give. We supply things like food and other basic necessities. We work with a local non-profit called Hope's Door that takes in victims of domestic violence to offer temporary foster solutions for their pets. And on the rare occasion that despite all efforts, pets have to be returned, we assist the adopter in re-homing pets they can no longer care for. If you have followed us for a long time, you may remember Rally, a pit bull mix whose facial injuries from abuse had to have several surgeries. Her name is Eleanor Rigby now.
When we first pulled her from Dallas Animal Services, she had a missing lip, prolapsed uterus and bronchopneumonia:
You may also remember Ox, a gorgeous black lab who was left tied up to a dumpster and picked up by local animal services. He now goes by Miles Davis:
They have lived happily together for the last 3 years, but their adopter contacted us last week and explained that she could no longer adequately take care of their needs. This is not a case of "I got new curtains and the dogs don't match them now" or "I'm moving tomorrow and need someone to take these dogs". The first line of the email read, "This is the hardest email I've ever had to write".
Without going into all of the personal details, these two sweet dogs need new homes through no fault of their own. We have been given a couple of months to find a place for them to go.
It is very easy to judge someone. It is not easy to stand up and do something. Last year, we helped a woman with terminal cancer re-home her precious yorkie. Somehow, the universe gave me the fortitude to sit with that lady for 30 minutes while she talked about how she believed that our volunteer, who met her at Baylor hospital, was an angel sent to her to help find a loving place for Tootsie to go, without bawling my eyes out. This final act of mercy was one of the bravest, most self-less things I've ever seen in my life. I defy anyone to say that she should have just kept the dog.
 |
| Tootsie, with flowers her mama sent to her new foster |
Thank you for sharing so that we can assist this family in their final act of mercy for Rigby and Miles. They will see this post, so if you have any similar stories, please share them here. Pain shared is divided.
<3
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