2004 - It was a beautiful warm day - perfect to walk on
the old farmlands - but this day was marked by an event both
wonderful and sad . Happy because it brought the joy and love
of 2 wonderful puppies into a family, sad because someone had
abandoned 2 helpless puppies on the old farm. These puppies
were some of the lucky ones, unlike so many so cruely dumped
each year they were found and did not die abandoned and
alone. It would be wonderful to say it was a happily ever
after story but sadly it was not to be. The puppies new
"daddy" chose not to spay / neuter or get shots. Soon there
was a new litter. These were not abandoned but at the age
of 7 months in November 2005 they were exposed to Parvo. Papa
Blue and 4 puppies died. Around the same time it became clear
that Momma Cinnamon was expecting again. The 2 surviving pups
from the 1st litter and 7 surviving puppies from the 2nd litter
born December 17, 2005 and Cinnamon all were given their shots
and would have been spayed or neutered - they needed only loving
forever homes.
7/31/06 – I received a call that broke my heart. These 8
puppies (and their sweet momma and little brother that my
Daughter had intended to keep) commited only one fault - they
were caught in the middle of an ugly divorce. My daughter's
estranged husband moved into the family home (with his
girlfriend) before she had secured a new place to stay - so
he said the pets would be cared for there until she could make
arrangements. - That was Saturday 7/15/06, just 2 weeks prior
to the phone call – Animal Control told me that 2 week prior
( 2 weeks would have been 7/17) the girlfriend signed all 10
puppers over to animal control and they had since all been
PTS – (Please here a note - the shelter does it's best - they
are small, under - funded, and have limited resources - they
did try to find them homes from what i was told on the phone
- but time was too short - and they will tell any who try to
surrender they get very few adoptions - not enough to count.
Sending them there is an almost certain death sentence. The
shelter is not to blame - they did act in good faith.) – her
estranged husband told her 7/28 he had rehomed all 10 and even
went so far as to tell her that her 2 had been lucky enough
that he had found them a home together. They were all innocent
victims. Rest in peace little ones - no one can ever hurt you
again. i am so very sorry.
This, sadly, is simply the last chapter in a very sad tale
that began about 2 years when 2 abandonded puppies were found
on my daughter's husband's old family farm.
Since November 2005 we have lost the male puppy he found (Blue)
and 4 puppies from their 1st litter to Parvo (we managed to save
momma, Cinnamon, and 2 puppies, Good Boy and Little Girl)-
1 puppy from the second litter that lived only a few
moments (Angel) and 1 from the second litter that lived only
weeks (Rose) - and now the female puppy he found (Cinnamon),
the 2 surviving puppies from the first litter and the 7
surviving puppies from the second litter are gone.
17 beautiful pure lights extinguished in 8 months.
A friend said to me after hearing of this "I don't
know how you ever get over this." to answer that question
i'm not sure i ever will. i feel so badly that i have failed
them. So, i swallow hard and do what i must. These 10, the
5 lost in November to Parvo - the 2 lost to fading puppy
syndrome (all because 1 - he was too cheap to do as my
daughter asked and pay for spay / neuter and get routine
shots, and 2 - he broke apart their home) - 17 sweet souls
gone in a space of 8 months. i cannot bring them back - undo
what has been done - but i can tell their tale - let their
voices be heard. And if one pet parent hears and a fur child
is spayed or neutered because they heard or one fur child gets
their shots then some good will come of this - if one fur
parent who faces an ugly divorce realizes that hurting an
innocent fur baby is a way some try to hurt an estranged
spouse and acts to be sure it is not their furchild that is
hurt then some good will come of this. This is the only legacy
i can give to them - the only thing i have to offer them so
their deaths are not without some meaning. So i do what i must
- fight my tears and make sure their tale is told, that they
are not nameless, faceless statistics. So long as even one
person remembers them and can feel a tear in their heart then
their story can offer hope to others and they are not forgotten.
