Friday, February 4, 2011

Coping - What do you do when your best isn't enough?

All too often, in rescue, you find a sweet animal who has the greatest personality, a gentle temperment, and would make someone the perfect pet... but you soon discover that that dear sweet animal is quietly trying to survive a myriad of painful, and fatal problems.

It is incredibly hard sometimes to accept that such a sweet being, who has been through so much, will die as a result of their mistreatment or just natural defect, despite your best efforts.

Recently Dog Liberator saved a sweet, malnourished dog named Katie who we soon discovered was pregnant. She gave birth to 9 little darlings, one of which had a heart on her butt. She was the 7th of the 9 puppies, and was nicknamed "Seven". She struggled to feed and had to be bottle fed for a good portion of her first few days of life. We too her to a vet to see why she was having such a hard time feeding from her mother, and found she had a cleft pallet, which was basically, inoperable and couldn't be repaired or worked around.
Little Seven was put to sleep, and it broke our hearts.

This little one was innocent and only lived a week. We all hurt for the loss, and that's natural, but we must remember what could have been. If animal control hadn't removed Katie from her original poor conditions, she may have lost her puppies because she didn't have the nutrition to grow or feed them. She could have died in the process. She was almost put down at the shelter before anyone knew about the litter, and we would have lost them all. 

Little Seven had the best seven days of her life with us. She was always loved, valued, warm and cared for. That is what we must focus on when things get dark. This will be true for just about any animal in the rescue.
Remember, when you lose one, that despite the sad end, they were looked on, and cared for (often for the first times in their lives) as someONE (not something) of value, despite whatever their problems or disabilities.

Sometimes the kindest thing we can do for them is end the suffering, even when it hurts us. 
We do our best to love them, protect them, and be kind to them, and this is all they ask.

We give them the best days of their lives, remember that the hurt, when they are gone, is the proof of this. We can't always promise success or health, those are things best left to God. Our job is to make their life, however long or short, the best it can be. You loved them and cared for them, and that's all they ask for.

Today is a gift, tomorrow isn't guaranteed, so do your best to make the best of the time you have together.



To read more about Seven, Katie, and the other 8 puppies, Click Here

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