Man's best friend-Ode to Buddy!

Here's a little tribute to our dog taken from us this week-
Buddy was our second dog, we got him when Caroline was pregnant with Kelsy, we hoped Buddy would be a good companion to our other dog, Bubba. They were best of friends, too.

Buddy is a Beagle/Daschund mix...he looked like a Beagle but had the short Daschund legs. Buddy was very mild mannered, yet full of energy. Since we started having kids, Buddy was the perfect dog for children. He knew his place in the home and was very watchful over his "sister and brothers". We vividly remember when we

brought Petey home, how Buddy would come check on him every morning and how Buddy would also come let us know anytime that Petey was fussy...he would actually find us in the house and get our attention focused on Petey if he made any kind of sound! Buddy and JJ were best friends. Luckily, Buddy didn't mind being abused by his friend because the two of them loved to wrestle. They also like to lie down together on JJ's floor and watch cartoons...Buddy would scoot up to JJ, so he could put his arm over his dog while lying there...it was the cutest site to see! Buddy loved to lie on the stairs towards the top, but low enough that he could see what was happening below but also high enough to hear what the kids were doing in thier rooms. Buddy only barked while outside when strangers came around! Buddy loved it when we took him on our family walks and he adored car rides. Buddy was 5 years old when his life was cut short this Friday night.

We arrived home fri night to find 3 Animal Control trucks in front of our house. The officers informed us that Buddy was at the emergency vet on life support! Unless it is raining we leave our dog outside while we are away, it has never been a problem. The few times Buddy got out, he never got more than 5 or 6 house away and all i had to do was yell his name and he would return. Our neighbor heard some ferouscious barking and after finding our back gate open (mind you we always leave it latched closed) she called A.C. They arrived to find Buddy lying in the back yard, unresponsive and barely breathing. A.C. rushed him to the vet ER and they got him somewhat stablized. Buddy had two very large lacerations to his neck, the biggest being about 4 inches long and probably 2 inches deep, which severed his jugular vein. He also had double pneumothoraxes (collapsed lungs) and a heart rate of 20, it should be 120. With oxygen, two IVs, warming blankets, and a lot of medicine Buddy was hanging onto life by a thread. I had the unfortune of seeing him in this condition and being given the choice of continuing treatment or ending it. Treatment would mean several neck surgeries, blood transfusions, continuous air bleeding, and lots of medicine. The doctor told me to expect a minimum of a $3000 bill! How much does that suck!! I had to decide if my dog (my son's best friend) should live or die and the single largest factor was money. The decision was made to euthanize Buddy. The prognosis was not good, he had a chance, but not a good one. If Buddy lived he may not walk or who knows what else. So, there I am in an ER for dogs filling out paperwork to end Buddies life...oh, yeah the bill was $569.30
So, how did this happen? Two dogs (can you guess what kind?) were running loose in the neighborhood on a killing spree...Buddy was not the only one attacked, another dog was murdered that night. These two PitBulls somehow got into my fenced back yard and chewed up poor little Buddy. Luckily, A.C. got the stupid mutts and one had a chip with owner info in it. The unlucky part....the piece of garbage owner conveniently sold the dogs 2 weeks ago to guy in the neighborhood, but he can't remember his last name and he doesn't know where he lives! Who the hell sells a dog without a bill of sale, a name, a phone number, or something? If you cared about the dog enought to get a chip, I think you'd want to know a little something about his new owner, don't you think? To make it even more fun, it is not criminal if your dog attacks/kills another dog, but you'd better believe a human hurting a dog is criminal! So, A.C. won't give us the "former" owner's info until some waiting period is up. The murderous Pits will be euthanized in 10 days if no one claims them. So once i do get the loser's info i'll try and recover my vet bill and cost of dog replacement in small claims court. All i can say is, i hope he gets a full serving of Kharma!!!
We had a little funeral for Buddy after church today...thanks dad for helping dig. Kelsy and JJ put a toy of Buddy's and a couple of treats into the hole with him. We have been teaching our kids about death lately (sounds fun, right?). Thankfully, we have the Saviour as an example the kids know a little something about. Kelsy seems to grasp the concepts pretty good, which was evident when she was crying as we said goodbye to Buddy in the grave. JJ keeps asking when Buddy will come home. Caroline and I are doing fine, we have started looking online for dogs to adopt. We have both had our turns shedding some tears, though!