How short life can be at times. I was informed by Robin that the senior dachshund we had been playing with on Saturday, which she named "Hope," had died overnight when the ACO Jill walked in Tuesday morning. Her body was already cold. Scott, who tends there, said she had had a grand mal seizure and also had had several large tumors on her side. I noticed on Saturday that her eyes were coated over with a greyish film, indicative of cataracts and blindness.
Hearing of Hope's death is of course sad for all of us. She died alone in a cold shelter, shaking in fear. Another dog lover was going to pick her up Tuesday for her new rescue of senior dogs, but that was not to be.
We don't know how old Hope was. She was picked up on January 4th so she wasn't in the shelter for long. Had the owner known she was very sick and dying? Hard to tell, but around here a lot of people dump their old pets in the desert because they either are tired of dealing with them, or don't want to bother with vet bills. Or perhaps they don't want to have to pay for euthanization.
Hope's story repeats itself nationwide in shelters. Counties can't afford to keep all animals alive, so who gets to live is dependent on how old and sick the animal is. After feral and aggressive dogs, sick dogs are the next to be killed off, then old dogs, and certain breeds like pit bulls, sadly, are next.
I can go on and on about the lack of good pet ownership here in Cochise County. People either have pets and see them as property to be disposed off at their convenience, or they see them as part of their extended family, like me, and take care of their medical needs.
On the same day that Hope died, the Douglas Animal Shelter euthanized four dogs because of lack of space. And so it goes. Three more are on the next "E"-list.
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