Betty comes home
It’s Saturday morning and mail has arrived. Often the packages are dog toys, treats or products of some kind. There is always a bit of anticipation, like Christmas of, “what did I order that I have forgotten?” And so this morning when my daughter placed a very heavy box in my lap, I did wonder that. However with the swipe of a razor knife through the tape that hid the heart breaking reality of this “gift” I was reduced to a sobbing mess in a moment.
Betty was home or rather Betty’s ashes were home. This is not the way it was supposed to be. Betty was supposed to jump off a plane into our arms and be on the way to her promised new life. Instead she underwent painful heartworm treatment, months of confinement, and ultimately died in her kennel of bloat at at vet clinic.
We are sick for what she must have endured. Sad for the loss of promise. Reeling financially from the cost and frankly confused about why it happened at all. The end result is that we will not pull from this area again or use this vet clinic going forward. Did they intentfully cause her death? No. Are they saddened by it? Yes. However we boarded her there specifically because of an assumed level of care and supervision that was not to be. We failed this girl.
Thank you to Kathy T., a very caring donor, for paying for Betty’s creamation and return of her ashes. It does not change the outcome. However, it adds a layer of love and dignity to a life lost. Humans failed this girl all the way around.
