This is not a house update, just musing on the weekend.
This past Friday, a lost dog found us. Michael made every attempt to talk to all our neighbors to find out who this dog belonged to- no one knew but had seen it wandering around for the past month or so. I come home from work to find a sweet, friendly, adorable fluff ball in our backyard. Michael had somewhere to be and asked me if I could take it to a vet to see if she was chipped.
After talking to a few people, it seemed better to take her to the shelter- that way it would be easier for her family to find her is she was not chipped. I dropped her off at the shelter, which was beyond heartbreaking in itself as this dog was amazingly sweet and well-mannered but I figured her owners were most likely frantically looking for her. I stuck around to see if she was chipped. She wasn't. And the little things that I noticed about her (lump on her belly, swollen eye) caused some alarm in the shelter staff and they whisked her away to be looked at. I gave them my number just in case they needed more information and I wanted to find out what happened to her, I assumed she would quickly be reunited with her family.
Later that afternoon the shelter called me.She was much more sick than they had thought, likely mammary cancer which may have spread to her lungs. An eye that had been infected in the past and never treated. Did I want her? Most likely her owners would not be looking for her due to her medical needs.
The family has until Friday to claim her, after that the shelter is going to turn her over to a rescue organization to see if they can help her, but really they just aren't so sure.
The day left me shaken, and made me feel that I should have rushed right down and picked up that dog. Let her live out her last few months in a loving home, off the streets and out of the cold shelter. I am still feeling so guilty over the fact that this wonderful creature is alone in the shelter, sick and most likely confused. What does one do in this kind of situation?
It also made me feel incredibly humbled. We have been given three absolutely amazing dogs of our own, mostly by chance. They are home with us (all snuggled up on the bed right now) because we happened to be at the shelter on a certain day and noticed these dogs (or in Toby's case- he noticed us). It is such a huge responsibility to me to be their mother, and it makes me sad that some people do not share that same feeling of responsibility.
I'm feeling pretty lucky to be a mom right now.
