I have had 3 greyhounds in my last 15 years.  I personally love greyhounds.  I love their sweet nature and I love how they love their masters.  They are so cool and the racing industry is horrible.  So many beautiful animals are destroyed...just cuz they don't race very well or they get hurt.  They are bred for one reason: to be raced and to win.  Otherwise they are killed---and sometimes not so humanely.

Before I was married, I had Teddy.  He was named for the childhood stuffed teddy bear of my best friend, Kelly.  He was my best pal.  He helped my loose over 100 pounds.  He kept me safe when I lived in the city.  He came with me when I got married.  He got bone cancer.  He lived about a year and a half after his diagnosis.  I had to choose to have him put to sleep.  It was horrible. About a year and a half later, we adopted Scooby and Tipper.  A male and female, they had been together since going into foster care and we took them as a pair.  They were always together.  A little more than 2 weeks ago, Chris and I left to go to work (we work 2-3 hours over lunch time with my husband at his pizza restaurant).  Chris had taken them out and gave them a bit of a run.  Scooby was fine.  He loved to run with Chris. 

We returned about 2 1/2 hours later to find him laying on the floor.  There was some blood around, and his right side was stiff.  I assumed he had had a stroke.  We hurried him to the vets office.  Our vet is wonderful.  He stayed there from wednesday to monday.  They worked with him, tried to get him up and walking.  He was eating and drinking and basically still Scooby...except he couldn't walk.  The doctor diagnosed him with some nerve damage, celluitis and a blood infection (that is what caused the stiffness).  I surmise that he got dizzy or weak from the blood infection (apparently this can overwhelm them quickly) and slipped and fell on our hardwood floors.  He kept trying to get up and hurt his back.  My poor doggie could only lay there and wait for me to come home to help him.  We visited him each day.  The doctor and staff were absolutely wonderful to him...but he didn't get any better.  His celluitis got worse and the doctor felt he wasn't going to walk again.  So, we made the horrible decision to have him put to sleep. Scooby died tuesday at the age of 10 years and 1 month. 

My female, who has never been a lone dog, is depressed beyond belief.  She is also 10 years old. I am not looking forward to her getting ill or too elderly to be maintained here at home.  Why can't they just die peacefully in their sleep?  Why do we have to make choices for them? 

I sincerely hope that my long held belief that God does take animals to heaven (or recreates them later) for us, is true.  I cannot imagine Him giving us companion animals who give us such love and devotion only to have them just 'gone'.

-sadly, kim


He is Risen, Just as He said!