We encounter a lot of sadness in rescue.
There are just really no words to express the sadness that we feel at times.
We’re still not ready to fully express our grief.
We were alerted by volunteers at an open access shelter to please help save a sweet senior Rottie named Moose on Dec.3, 2013.
All that we knew was that this poor boy was confiscated by Animal Control…tied to a very short chain and abandoned outside. His vet was traced…but his owner….no where to be found.
We knew that he had a very sweet temperament. He had shown no interests to cats. He was friendly towards the dogs that he had met. We were told that his coat was in poor condition. We were also told that he had a tumor on his eyelid and a notable heart arrhythmia.
We had an amazing experienced foster step forward to give him hospice care if needed.
We were able to spring him on Dec.8, 2013.
We were not prepared for his decline. He seemed so tired. While most dogs are so happy and excited to leave the shelter…Moose could only give us smiles when he had his butt scratched…it took 3 of us to get him to his feet…and it just did not look good. His belly was distended and full of fluid, he showed signs of what we suspected to be Cushing’s Disease amongst other things.
The vet confirmed without a doubt that Moose was suffering. They could not withdraw blood as his veins had collapsed and was metastasized. The fluid in his belly were all lymphatic cancer cells. And he was filled with toxins from inability to urinate and defecate. None of us were prepared.
This poor boy suffered for so long. We wanted him to have love and be loved. We wanted so much for him. One of the things that we truly believe in Rescue is to do all that we can to ensure quality of life. In Moose’ case, it was too far gone to alleviate any of his health issues…we could not prolong his suffering. We chose to give him the dignity that he deserved. He was surrounded by love and held as if were always one of our own. We want to give special thanks to Eileen, Karen and Kat.
Run free Moose. No one can ever hurt you again.
