Quote: betty landercasp

I can NOT push that needle any more.

I began college Pre-vet. I wanted to save the lives of animals. I joke and tell everyone that I failed Calculus, but in reality, I would not be able to put a healthy animal to sleep. It's just not in me. I would not be able to use shelter animals as "practice" for surgical skills, and then put them to sleep when we were done. It's not possible for me to do.

I do what I can to save lives now by advocating for shelters and trying to educate others...

I wrote the following article about 3 years ago after adopting my Belgian Draft horse Winchester. There is a couple of pictures of a little colt that had been neglected.. don't look if you get sad or mad easily. I don't think the link to his story works anymore, but he was basically left in a barn when it was roughly -20 outside. He wasn't given any food or water. He went down and couldn't get up.. he had sores that went all the way to the bone on his hips from constantly trying to get up. In my mind, there is no excuse for this...

http://leerburg.com/shelters.htm

--Kel

I couldn't believe someone so cruel do something to Shadow! Poor that colt.

A few years ago when I used to at vet hospital and I was a kennel worker. I remember a black English springer spaniel named Angus who was there for boarding and he was an elder dog about ten years old. We knew him and his family very well. They took him to the place where I work for boarding and medical care many times in the past. We knew he had a good family until one day his family told us that they will be in Canada for a few weeks.

He suffered with some worst case of hot spots and was in a lot of pain. We tried to contact his owners for treatments but odd enough his family never called back or even came back to pick him up. He stayed with us for almost 2 and half months and we tried everything to get his hot spots stabilized, but couldn't. The vet feel sorry for him so we had to put him down.

We have had several dogs pas through our lives....we have always tried to do our best...
Two that come to mind are Biscuit a senior Samoyed...We had 3 kids..one was only 2 months....he loved the kids....we had him for 3 months and he went into liver failure.....I made sure that my eyed were the last thing he saw as he fell asleep...I will Never forget the look of release on his face as the pain faded...just before he was gone....there was a moment that he was himself...and he smiled at me again...just for a moment....

Then there was Beau...an elderly shepherd that we got at the pound.....he was fully trained.......in German......advanced off leash OB..hand signals..the works.
He showed signs of knowing all about being tied up.....he had obviously been chained.
I took him down to a club to have his bite work tested..to see if there was anything there..he went into total avoidance, which left us thinking SAR or narc or bombs....
I put the word out....none of the local agencies had lost a dog...
The kids loved to play "Hide and Beau seek".
He could find anyone, anywhere in any conditions.
just for fun once I had the kids run about like mad in the 1 acre back yard...lots of cover...in their bare feet....and Hide.....i let him go..he tried to trail them, went around in a circle or two and gave it up as a bad job...he switched tactics and went off the airborne sent cone...found them in 300 seconds...lol
Old trails new ones, morning hot afternoon...hide and beau seek was so much fun.
One day my daughter slipped off the couch onto his back and he growled and snapped at the air.
We took him right to the vet and they said that his spine was putting extra bone in the spinal canal and slowly crushing his spinal cord...really painful and not a surgical fix at his age.
We had to put him to sleep as well, but at lest his last few months were happy.
It is emotional, but its worth it....just for the dogs it's worth it..the people....there are all kinds of them....good bad indifferent, but I do it for the dogs.

Kelly thanks for sharing your article, I hadn't come across it yet.

A lot of disheartening experiences shared and many more out there. Someone used the word discarded, and I think that is the word that best describes the origination of my emotions. There are just so many, I feel overwhelmed at times.

You're right Willie, it's done for the dogs (critters). Extra hugs and kisses dished out to mine today, their reply ugh, can't we play? gott'a love them....

For lack of a better place to put this,

Kendall changing policies after pet mistakenly euthanized

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/2505848,2_1_AU17_DEADDOG_S1-100717.article

Sorry to come in late on this topic, but I have very recent experience of just such a problem. In the last few months my particularly acrimonious divorce has reached its conclusion and long story short, I ended up losing my good sized 3 bedroomed house with quarter acre garden to my ex's mother, I couldn't afford to buy him out, and I was pretty much backed into a corner, so began the impossible task of finding a rental for me and the 5 dogs, plus 2 older children still living with me, it soon became clear, no landlord would allow the dogs, 1 or 2 perhaps, but that was a choice I was not going to make, I had already decided I would pitch a tent or caravan somewhere, anything with a roof over my head, the amount of people that said well, you are just going to have to get rid of the dogs astounded me, they are my life and it was just NOT going to happen, I have ended up buying a tiny 2 bed house with a tiny garden, but the only thing that matters to me is keeping the dogs all together, with me, under our own roof, it's going to be a bit like pouring a quart into a pint pot, but we will manage somehow, 2 of the dogs are getting on in years, and the other 3 are youngsters, but each one of them had no choice in who brought them home as pups, and I would never have been able to have even considered giving them up, I do feel sorry for people who have to face this trauma, all I know is it was a no brainer for me.
Kind regards

Good for you, Tracey and best wishes! What you're going through is tough. Been there, done that. Hang in there!

That story is terrible.

The family must have really loved that senior dog to pay for knee surgery. What a nightmare!

I have two rescue dogs and I send their foster mother's updates at least every other month with a picture. They don't always reply, but from what it sounds like, people who've fostered would like to know about the dogs they've saved. Thanks for shedding light on the "foster mom" side of things.

 Quote: tracey holden

Sorry to come in late on this topic, but I have very recent experience of just such a problem. In the last few months my particularly acrimonious divorce has reached its conclusion and long story short, I ended up losing my good sized 3 bedroomed house with quarter acre garden to my ex's mother, I couldn't afford to buy him out, and I was pretty much backed into a corner, so began the impossible task of finding a rental for me and the 5 dogs, plus 2 older children still living with me, it soon became clear, no landlord would allow the dogs, 1 or 2 perhaps, but that was a choice I was not going to make, I had already decided I would pitch a tent or caravan somewhere, anything with a roof over my head, the amount of people that said well, you are just going to have to get rid of the dogs astounded me, they are my life and it was just NOT going to happen, I have ended up buying a tiny 2 bed house with a tiny garden, but the only thing that matters to me is keeping the dogs all together, with me, under our own roof, it's going to be a bit like pouring a quart into a pint pot, but we will manage somehow, 2 of the dogs are getting on in years, and the other 3 are youngsters, but each one of them had no choice in who brought them home as pups, and I would never have been able to have even considered giving them up, I do feel sorry for people who have to face this trauma, all I know is it was a no brainer for me.
Kind regards

I just want to applaud you for your commitment. You have my respect and admiration. I have been there (with four dogs). The pressure from friends and family was awful, the situation was ugly and it felt like I didn't have support from anyone but my daughter. I had people I barely knew throwing me attitude along with "well you're just going to have to get rid of the damned dogs, so you might as well stop being stupid and do it now".

Of course I didn't, and it all worked out, but it was awful to be in the middle of it. It was a good three months of hell and some of my human/human relationships were irreparably damaged (because I "refused to listen to reason"), but was worth it in the end. It's part of why I get so angry when people give up a dog to live in a specific apartment. It just feels lazy and 'gutless'. A commitment is a COMMITMENT.

So I say again...good for you! Vicarious internet hugs to you