Today I got my first hard lesson in saving animals. You can't save everyone and even though you find them sometimes it is too late. Harold was my first dog to be humainly put down at work. I will noy mention where I work in these post because that isn't the important part. Just know it is largely a no kill shelter and only extreme cases end this way.
Harold was a dog with problems. Somewhere at sometime (most likely as a puppy) something happened that made him snap. Harold on most days and with most people was a sweet dog. He has been at the shelter for some time (more than a month) and in this time his problems surfaced. Harold was randomly aggressive. He did not target certain people or strike at certain times. Nothing showed up in his behavior examine to make people think he would be bad. However, one day he lunged. Not sure which form of aggression happened first (dog or people) but either way one escaladed into the other. He would lung at attack at subjects even 25 ft away. When it became clear his strike were randomm and not specific and nothing was helping him a meeting was called. At this meeting it was decided he could not be adopted. When all other options lead to nothing ethanasia was the only thing to keep Harold from hurt someone
Today was Harold's last day one earth. I was there for his last hour. I sat and played with a dog who showed no sign of aggression to 5 different people. We played, scratched, and fed him. As he slipted away we all had our moments. This was my first and so I something hit me and I broke down. I didn't cry much at first. I left the room and as soon as I was alone in the stairwell I sobbed. It was then something changed. I realized I must fight to help dogs like Harold have a chance. If someone would have properly cared for Harold early on today would have never happened. He would been the working dog he was meant to be. I realized while playing deep down he wanted to be good he just didn't know how. No one had shown him early on what was ok and what was not. Due to this we lost Harold a beautiful hound/pointer mix.
My job is more than a job. Today it became a lifestyle.
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