Not a good week for Family pets
This morning my mother called to say that they took Paddy, our family's black dog, to the vet to be put to sleep.
This has NOT been a good week for family pets.
On Saturday, I took Ashon to the Humane Society. My wife and I had made the decision earlier in the week. I had called the Humane Society earlier in the week to see what the situation was with regard to the kennel space. No answer - left a message - no response. Saturday morning I got called in to work. On my way home I called the Humane Society to see if there was kennel space. No answer - didn't leave a message.
When I got back, I immediately grabbed our cat carrier (it's really a dog carrier that we found at a garage sale but it works when you are ferrying two cats to the vet). I brought it upstairs to the kitchen and cleaned it out. It seemed like such an odd gesture - like the alcohol swab on the needle before a lethal injection. But for some reason I wanted to make sure that that carrier was clean.
I found Ashon sitting on the basement steps and brought him into the kitchen. I called my wife in to the kitchen. She tearfully said her good byes and then I put him into the crate. Ashon doesn't like the crate and he let me know as soon as he was in there. I carried him out to the car and put him in the back seat. Ashon doesn't like the car and he let me know the whole way to the Humane Society. As he's howling part of my mind is trying to figure out if this is making it easier or harder to give him up.
I knew that this was going to be hard when I pulled up in front of the Humane Society. There was this big high school age guy sitting on the front steps unabashedly bawling his eyes out. I went in to the waiting room and found that it was full. Not a good sign, I thought. There was another college age woman there giving up her cat because she didn't have time to take care of him. And there were a couple of other dog owners. Some of the dog owners were in the wrong area. One family was giving up their dog because the mother had gotten another job in Chicago and couldn't take the dog with them.
Then it was my turn. I talked to one of the attendants briefly who outlined that they were short on space and Ashon was unlikely to make it to the adoption floor. After hearing this I called another shelter and asked if there was room. I was told to try back another day. Another attendant asked me what I was doing and I told her that I was thinking about giving up my cat. She said "Well, if he's one of ours then we have to take him back."
I want to say that I did everything in my power to help make sure that the cat got the best chance at continued living, but I didn't. I put his cage on the counter and filled out the paperwork. Honestly. Which means that I wrote down that he'd bitten me. Which means that I wrote down that he was peeing all over our house. Which means that I heard that other attendant say that he was unlikely to make it to the floor and still left him there. I really want to tell you that I think that Ashon is available for adoption. But I knew that as soon as I left the house that he would probably not make it to the adoption floor. I could have taken him home and tried again another day when there might have been more space at the Humane Society or another shelter. It's not like Ashon would have bitten Oliver this week. A good person would have had the decency to do that. Wouldn't he? Instead I left. I came home and cried with my wife.
I'm sure that having Ashon in the house was not a good long term idea. I know that giving him up is the best decision. I just went about it poorly. I'll often jokingly volunteer that I'm a bad person. Maybe I'm not joking
This has NOT been a good week for family pets.
On Saturday, I took Ashon to the Humane Society. My wife and I had made the decision earlier in the week. I had called the Humane Society earlier in the week to see what the situation was with regard to the kennel space. No answer - left a message - no response. Saturday morning I got called in to work. On my way home I called the Humane Society to see if there was kennel space. No answer - didn't leave a message.
When I got back, I immediately grabbed our cat carrier (it's really a dog carrier that we found at a garage sale but it works when you are ferrying two cats to the vet). I brought it upstairs to the kitchen and cleaned it out. It seemed like such an odd gesture - like the alcohol swab on the needle before a lethal injection. But for some reason I wanted to make sure that that carrier was clean.
I found Ashon sitting on the basement steps and brought him into the kitchen. I called my wife in to the kitchen. She tearfully said her good byes and then I put him into the crate. Ashon doesn't like the crate and he let me know as soon as he was in there. I carried him out to the car and put him in the back seat. Ashon doesn't like the car and he let me know the whole way to the Humane Society. As he's howling part of my mind is trying to figure out if this is making it easier or harder to give him up.
I knew that this was going to be hard when I pulled up in front of the Humane Society. There was this big high school age guy sitting on the front steps unabashedly bawling his eyes out. I went in to the waiting room and found that it was full. Not a good sign, I thought. There was another college age woman there giving up her cat because she didn't have time to take care of him. And there were a couple of other dog owners. Some of the dog owners were in the wrong area. One family was giving up their dog because the mother had gotten another job in Chicago and couldn't take the dog with them.
Then it was my turn. I talked to one of the attendants briefly who outlined that they were short on space and Ashon was unlikely to make it to the adoption floor. After hearing this I called another shelter and asked if there was room. I was told to try back another day. Another attendant asked me what I was doing and I told her that I was thinking about giving up my cat. She said "Well, if he's one of ours then we have to take him back."
I want to say that I did everything in my power to help make sure that the cat got the best chance at continued living, but I didn't. I put his cage on the counter and filled out the paperwork. Honestly. Which means that I wrote down that he'd bitten me. Which means that I wrote down that he was peeing all over our house. Which means that I heard that other attendant say that he was unlikely to make it to the floor and still left him there. I really want to tell you that I think that Ashon is available for adoption. But I knew that as soon as I left the house that he would probably not make it to the adoption floor. I could have taken him home and tried again another day when there might have been more space at the Humane Society or another shelter. It's not like Ashon would have bitten Oliver this week. A good person would have had the decency to do that. Wouldn't he? Instead I left. I came home and cried with my wife.
I'm sure that having Ashon in the house was not a good long term idea. I know that giving him up is the best decision. I just went about it poorly. I'll often jokingly volunteer that I'm a bad person. Maybe I'm not joking
posted by mypetrock at 1:28 PM
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