"I can't think of anything that brings me closer to tears than when my old dog -
completely exhausted after a hard day in the field - limps away from her nice
spot in front of the fire and comes over to where I'm sitting and puts her head
in my lap, a paw over my knee, and closes her eyes and goes back to sleep. I
don't know what I've done to deserve that kind of friend."
- Gene Hill
- Gene Hill
The other day while I was wasting some time on Facebook, someone posted a picture of an old dog, 12 years old I believe, who had been surrendered by his family to a shelter in Florida. I have seen other postings like this over the years of course, but of all the dog dumping stories I see every day, these are the ones that break my heart the most.
I do understand sometimes in life there are circumstances beyond a person's control, but there has to be a better answer for these dogs, these old timers who have come to the last years of their life; a time when they deserve and need their family the most. When I see the look on an old dog's face, one who has been dropped off at a shelter, and maybe it's just my bleeding heart, but it seems to me there is a difference in their sadness, the loss in their eyes seems deeper. I imagine they must be confused, especially dogs who have spent their entire lives with someone, with a family.
When my old girl, Tailey, passed away two and a half years ago, it broke my heart in ways I could not have imagined. Tailey came into my life when she was five years old and we spent the next eight years together, inseparable. When she came into my life I was going through a hard time and she changed everything. It is because of Tailey I learned of my passion for natural health and nutrition, it is because of her that I got up out of bed every day and soldiered on, no matter how tough things were. Tailey made me laugh every day and she gave every bit of herself to me, every single moment of those eight years we had. The day she left me, she took a piece of my soul with her.
Tailey July 2010
I just cannot imagine any other dog giving their person any less than Tailey gave me. When I see older dogs dropped off at shelters, it breaks my heart all over again. Thankfully the boy who was posted the other day was adopted very quickly and I would just like to say that whoever it was who adopted him and to all the other people who have and who will adopt senior dogs, you are all angels.
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When I get discouraged at the people who seem to see their animals as disposal, I have learned to remember all the people that don't- when I was a volunteer in a shelter, it used to bring me to tears - both when an old dog was dumped and see his confusion and despair and then tears of joy when I saw how MANY people came into and adopted these dogs- determined to give them love and care and a soft lap and kind word in their final days. I just adopted a 14 year old pit mix that had been dumped by the low-lifes that had had him since he was EIGHT WEEKS OLD. Who does that??? Friends from the shelter where I used to volunteer kept calling and after three months he was still there and going downhill - now he has a forever home ... he is the sweetest, most adorable love bug EVER.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome selkie. I am so glad he found you and he will live his days out with love and happiness, just as any dog should.
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