06/13/2024
Let me tell you a tale of 3 tails... Tails attached to 3 dogs who all lost their lives Wednesday, June 12th, 2024 at the Humane Society of Central Texas in Waco.
The 1st was a tiny, cute as a button spitfire named Melody. She was less than 20 #, but a biter. People would see her picture and want to meet her; very few, besides staff and experienced volunteers, ever got that chance.
I don't know what happened to Melody (originally named Medusa) in her previous life, but she was either never socialized properly, experienced extreme physiological trauma, or her brain was just not wired quite right. Maybe it was a combination of the three.
She looked so cuddly, but her default was to bite anytime she was uncomfortable, which was most of the time. Melody exited her 3rd bite quarantine today and was assisted in crossing the Rainbow Bridge. There is a lot of peace in knowing that a dog who struggled so much with every aspect of her life could now experience tranquility. Her tense little body is finally at rest.
I mourn for what could've been for her; however, her past carved no viable future for her and we did all we could do. We loved her to death.
The second dog we lost was a stunning boy named after the character, Neil Caffrey, from the TV series, White Collar. The character Caffery pulled off elaborate fine arts heists; the dog Caffrey stole our hearts.
Caffery was a "white collar", white-headed dark blue pittie boy with different colored eyes and a heart of gold. He was easy to love and became a volunteer and playgroup favorite.
Recently, he had been showing some symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. On Sunday, June 9th, he balked going back to his corner kennel in our most difficult hallway. He aggressively fought returning to his kennel, pulling backwards, then lunging and trying to grab the leash and his handler's hands and arms.
The handler, a volunteer who had spent hours with this dog and loved him fiercely, navigated holding Caffery at bay while also summoning help. She was quickly assisted by one of our staff members. Our staff member also struggled with Caffery, but was able to get him secured in his kennel after some expert wrangling. No one- human or canine- was harmed, but it was alarming. It was like a switch flipped in him. None of us had seen this side of him.
The next day, he was started on antibiotics and we decided to give him a couple of days to decompress and see if the antibiotics were effective in treating his respiratory symptoms and possibly reconciling his mental break.
Wednesday morning, June 12th, I took him from his corner kennel to re-assess him and facilitate a move to an "easier" kennel.
He was not the original loving boy I had grown to love. He was very different with mixed and unpredictable signals. I cried as I called for another staff member to record his behavior and supervise his movement. I elected to take him to a large play yard to hang out for a bit before forcing him to enter his new kennel.
The whole outing was an elaborate dance of keeping distance, yet allowing him to approach me at times. I watched his eyes and body language without making direct eye contact.
In the yard, he would "look through me" and then try to elicit play. Moments later, he would get stiff, pin his ears back and contemplate coming after me. It was heart-wrenching.
Several staff members watched at a distance as our dance continued about 30 minutes later, on his way back to his new kennel.
Using pizza and some "fancy leash work", Caffrey was safely placed in his new kennel.
My new plan became to offer enrichment and try to empty enough kennels with fosters and adoptions of other dogs to buy him more time.
Maybe a few more days of antibiotics and the addition of some anxiety medications might help him turn the corner.
Alas, our time and space ran out yesterday and he was to become yet another victim of our current national and local shelter crisis.
I escorted him down for his last walk and assisted the kennel staff with the sedation phase, sobbing the entire time and telling him he was a good boy and that I would love him forever. By the time I left the intake building, my face was beet red, I was ugly crying and I couldn't help but feel like the last person who had failed him.
The final life lost today was a 10 year old, heartworm positive, grumbly girl who was surrendered recently for increasing aggression with other animals and "snapping at children".
Her chances of adoption were slim to nill and quite frankly, she was tired.
She was tired of having to put up with anyone else's BS. She had lived long enough to be a little bit of a "Maxine".
She knew. She knew what was about to happen and actually seemed a little relieved. My deepest regret and heartbreak for her was that this was happening at the shelter with people she didn't know.
Oh, how I wished I could've counseled her family before this moment and helped them realize that we could've helped them love her to death instead of it happening like this. She should have been held and loved by the people she knew her entire life- not us.
Please let her legacy be that if you encounter a similar situation, you love your pet enough to reach out to us before surrendering your furry family member.
We can help find services to accommodate your pet's end of life transition; at least let us try. Your dog deserves that much.
We connect with these dogs on such a deep, personal level that a little piece of our souls die with them. Pets should not be suffering the consequences of overbreeding, neglect and carelessness. It is not their fault. Every bit of this heartache can be contributed to humans. It is up to us to do better and be better. Be the voice for the voiceless and pray for those of us that fight every day to do right by them. We don't always win and it hurts.
Thank you for caring enough to read this.
Love, Nikkey
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