This Memorial is dedicated to Coco and Cujo. I'm sorry that its kind of long, but it is also to pass on a lesson learned that sadly had horrible and tragic consequences. I can only hope by relaying this to you that you will not let yourself or anyone you know make the same mistake of assumptions and mis-placed trust. I wouldn't want anyone to go through the hell of emotions and unrelentless guilt we are still going through to this Day:
Unfortunately, there came a time when we had to downsize the amount of animals we had. You all understand that when you're an animal lover, it gets around and we live in the country, so animals are dropped off at our place constantly. If we kept every animal that strayed into our lives or was dropped off and abandoned by their humans at our doorstep when we weren't looking, we'd have to pack up and go live in a Zoo. So, for a lot of our animals that we adopted, we built them up with good food and vitamins, put them on heartworm medication and updated them with shots, re-socialized them because many were in a state of trauma from being deposited in a strange new world. We worked hard with many of them to restore their tainted faith in humanity. We always succeeded - animals, as you know, are more forgiving than humans are. Eventually, for the ones we just couldn't keep because it got to be too many, we sought what I had hoped to be good, solid homes for them. Anyway, we obtained Coco and Cujo from a so-called No-Kill Animal Shelter where they supposedly make every effort possible to place the animal as opposed to standard euthanasia measures of most Humane Shelters. We had them for awhile but like I mentioned earlier, it was time to downsize. I brought them back to the same No-Kill Animal Shelter (I will not disclose their name - they know who they are), hoping they could help me place the dogs. They were friendly now and healthy and should be placed easily. So I thought. Just two days after I had brought them to the Shelter, I called to see how they were doing and if they'd been placed. I had previously asked the Shelter to let me know the status of their outcome because, if for any reason they couldn't place the dogs, we wanted them back. They knew this and had it documented but nobody called so I called THEM. And what I was told was one of the worst days of my Life: They told me they were unable to place the dogs because they didn't act socialized. When people looked at them in their cages, they sat to the back, huddled together in a shivering mass of fear. I told the woman this was probably normal - they don't know where they are - they're just two frightened dogs, that's all. So I proceeded to tell her I'll just go ahead and come get the dogs since she perceives a problem in placement. Well, she said, that would be okay except……..we had the Dogs euthanized. What? I said, in total shock. There was nothing wrong with these dogs. They were young and perfectly healthy and just disoriented, that's all. And I wanted them back - Remember? No comment. Had I known, I would never have brought them there. I hung up the phone, too shaken to talk anymore. And they call themselves A No-kill shelter? These dogs weren't even given a chance!! So how do you think we feel? I feel so heartbroken, like bringing them there was signing their death warrant, but how was I to know? The guilt-trip is beyond anything I could ever imagine or wish upon another Soul. We will never forgive ourselves, though we are not entirely to blame, I know. Broken Trust. Deception. Betrayal. I trusted these people. They killed my two beautiful dogs who died in a cold, lonely and loveless shelter all because they were unsure with their strange surroundings and were probably just hoping to once again see our familiar faces on the other side of their bars. They did nothing wrong but be dogs deserving of a good home for all the love they had given us and would surely have given others. Our only consolation through all of this is the Home they went to: THEIR HOME WITH GOD...
We had them for awhile but like I mentioned earlier, it was time to downsize. I brought them back to the same No-Kill Animal Shelter (I will not disclose their name - they know who they are), hoping they could help me place the dogs. They were friendly now and healthy and should be placed easily. So I thought.
Just two days after I had brought them to the Shelter, I called to see how they were doing and if they'd been placed. I had previously asked the Shelter to let me know the status of their outcome because, if for any reason they couldn't place the dogs, we wanted them back. They knew this and had it documented but nobody called so I called THEM.
And what I was told was one of the worst days of my Life:
They told me they were unable to place the dogs because they didn't act socialized. When people looked at them in their cages, they sat to the back, huddled together in a shivering mass of fear. I told the woman this was probably normal - they don't know where they are - they're just two frightened dogs, that's all. So I proceeded to tell her I'll just go ahead and come get the dogs since she perceives a problem in placement. Well, she said, that would be okay except……..we had the Dogs euthanized. What? I said, in total shock. There was nothing wrong with these dogs. They were young and perfectly healthy and just disoriented, that's all. And I wanted them back - Remember? No comment. Had I known, I would never have brought them there. I hung up the phone, too shaken to talk anymore. And they call themselves A No-kill shelter? These dogs weren't even given a chance!! So how do you think we feel? I feel so heartbroken, like bringing them there was signing their death warrant, but how was I to know? The guilt-trip is beyond anything I could ever imagine or wish upon another Soul. We will never forgive ourselves, though we are not entirely to blame, I know. Broken Trust. Deception. Betrayal. I trusted these people. They killed my two beautiful dogs who died in a cold, lonely and loveless shelter all because they were unsure with their strange surroundings and were probably just hoping to once again see our familiar faces on the other side of their bars. They did nothing wrong but be dogs deserving of a good home for all the love they had given us and would surely have given others. Our only consolation through all of this is the Home they went to: THEIR HOME WITH GOD...
They told me they were unable to place the dogs because they didn't act socialized. When people looked at them in their cages, they sat to the back, huddled together in a shivering mass of fear. I told the woman this was probably normal - they don't know where they are - they're just two frightened dogs, that's all. So I proceeded to tell her I'll just go ahead and come get the dogs since she perceives a problem in placement. Well, she said, that would be okay except……..we had the Dogs euthanized. What? I said, in total shock. There was nothing wrong with these dogs. They were young and perfectly healthy and just disoriented, that's all. And I wanted them back - Remember?
No comment.
Had I known, I would never have brought them there. I hung up the phone, too shaken to talk anymore. And they call themselves A No-kill shelter? These dogs weren't even given a chance!!
So how do you think we feel? I feel so heartbroken, like bringing them there was signing their death warrant, but how was I to know? The guilt-trip is beyond anything I could ever imagine or wish upon another Soul. We will never forgive ourselves, though we are not entirely to blame, I know.
Broken Trust. Deception. Betrayal. I trusted these people. They killed my two beautiful dogs who died in a cold, lonely and loveless shelter all because they were unsure with their strange surroundings and were probably just hoping to once again see our familiar faces on the other side of their bars. They did nothing wrong but be dogs deserving of a good home for all the love they had given us and would surely have given others. Our only consolation through all of this is the Home they went to: THEIR HOME WITH GOD...
