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There
is a little story connected with our acquition of Barum and with
the reader's indulgence, I would like to convey it. When our first
Beagle Shadow passed on, I was very upset and had vowed never
to have another dog. Yet my son, (who was also depressed by the
departure of his pet, and perhaps even moreso than I), was willing
to take on the responsibility of another. He was lonely and wanted
another animal to be his friend. I can recall him being
very persistent, asking just about every day if I had changed
my mind and if he could get another Beagle to replace our Shadow.
"No," I would always respond, "I do not want another dog let alone
another Beagle," I would say to him.
Well,
as time would have it, he finally won out. He, you see, had found
another listening ear. Enter my husband, who at the time was very
willing to please. He and my son went on a few hunting trips in
search of another male Beagle. Each time they would come home, I would
put my foot down and say, "No more dogs!" Now, this
may sound cruel to some of you, but, for the most part, I was the one who trained
and cared for him, took care of his illnesses or drove him to the vets, etc., so that I felt I
had a right to voice my opinion. Both my husband and son had to
honor that because they had only a small share in the care of our pets but I am on call 24/7. While
our son would play with him and feed him nightly my husband was
the one in charge of weekly bathing. We all took turns in taking him
out.
Still,
I will never forget the day when Shadow our first Beagle died. It was
a Labor Day weekend, to be precise. I had been the first one to
wake up that morning and found our Shadow sitting up in a corner
half comatose. His breathing was labored and his head was leaning
forward against his chest. His eyes looked strange too. Oh, my
gosh, I thought to myself, what am I going to do? If I call my
son down now he will get too upset and if I don't he will be even
worse off. I knew I had to tell him that his friend was leaving
but just didn't know how. I also knew that if I layed him down
it would be for the very last time. But how could I leave him
the way he was. I counld not.
With
forethought of carrying him to the car and then to the vet, I
placed a heavy rug on the floor next to him and gently layed him
down on top of it. All the time offering up prayers to God that
this poor little one would not have to suffer too long before
the animal devas would take him home. Then I went upstairs and
whispered to my son, " Please wake up, you have to go downstairs.
Shadow is leaving us today and you need to say good-bye to him."
I did the same for our other son and also to my husband. One son
could not be party to seeing his friend leave but our other son
did spend the remainder of that day along with his dad with his
longtime friend of 15 years.
Before
I go on, have to tell you that I was opting for bringing him to
the vet right then and there. I also knew my husband and son.
I knew, especially from looking into their saddened eyes that
they were not yet willing to let him go. Both kept on insisting
that they could do something to revive him. So I had to allow
it. I had to give them the time that they needed.
I
recall having an appointment that day. It was an appointment I
was willing to forego but only if they agreed to take the dog
to the vet with me. "No," they would insist, "let us try feeding
him." Or they might say, "let us try walking him." Then they would
add, "maybe he just needs to be outside." Okay, okay, I said, It
is apparent to me that the two of you still need some time, but
I cannot sit here and watch the two of you torment yourselves,
because if it were up to me, I would reiterate, I would take him
to the vet right now rather than to prolong his suffering. With
clear conscience, I left. I also called them every half hour to
ask how our pet was doing and if they had made a decision yet.
Each time, they said, "no, it is too soon." Look, I said, I will
be home in a couple of hours and if you two have not called the vet by then,
I will. Which is exactly what happened, because neither my husband
nor son could make that all important phone call. Now, some of
you are asking yourselves, so why didn't I do that in the first
place and avoid all this hassle. And my answer, now as it is then:
If I made decision to take our pet to the vet too soon, both my
husband and son would not have forgiven me for ending his life.
They would not have forgiven me, because they would not have gone
with me. My point to them was that this was a family decision
and not just mine to make. I also needed them to come along. The
way it ended up, all three of us went for that seven minute car
ride.
If
there are any readers who disapprove of our decision, let me tell
you first hand that our vet is the most gentle of souls who loves
his animals. So tender was his care and so speedy was his method
that I almost regretted not taking him sooner. There are apparently
two ways to end a dogs life. The first is to give the animal a
massive dose that would end its life; and the second it to give
the animal a first injection that would put the animal into a state of
sleep followed by a second but lethal injection. Since this was our son's
dog, we allowed him to make the final decision. He chose the first.
Both my husband and I backed him up. How could we not, he had
already been in a comatose state for the past several hours so
why in heaven's name should we want to place in a sleep state.
As it turned out, (and I have never seen anything work so swiftly)
--- the moment the injection hit his skin, our dog Shadow expired.
He was no longer in any pain. For this I was extremely grateful to a vet who believes in euthanasia.
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