Kayla was scheduled to be euthanized, her time at
the shelter was up. I just couldn't resist this cute
German Shepherd Puppy and saved her life.




Peppy Pets
May 12, 2003



By: Christy Martin

My story starts on a sad note. Back in February of this
year, my German Shepherd Quentin suddenly became very ill.
After a week in the vet hospital, they determined that she
had advanced liver cancer. They said that she had a less
than 1% chance of even surviving being put under, let alone
the surgery. They also didn't think that there was any
chance of them getting all the cancer and saving her. Worst
of all, she was in pain and suffering.

I had to make the toughest decision of my life and let her
go. This was my long time best friend and partner (she was
trained for narcotics work), so I had to do what was best
for her. The first question everyone asked me when they
found out that she was gone was "are you going to get
another dog?". The answer was always the same: "NO!". I
didn't want another dog. I was grieving the same as if I had
lost any other family member and believe me, I DO mean
grieving.

Here's where the story turns around. About two months
later, I had drove to a neighboring town (about 30 miles
away) to ship some packages at UPS. On my way back, I
suddenly found myself sitting in the parking lot of an
animal shelter. Not knowing really why I was there, I went
inside and talked with the shelter director. She asked if I
had lost a pet and I said "yes, but not in the way that you
mean". I proceeded to tell her about Quentin, tears
streaming down my face. She then told me that she had a
young German Shepherd puppy in the back and "would I like to
meet her?". I reluctantly said yes, still not wanting another
dog.

Well, I spent the next hour with "Kayla" in the visiting
room and at 4:45 I decided that I would adopt her (she and I
bonded so quickly, what else could I do!). The director told
me that she was so glad and that she would have to go get
Kayla's paperwork out of the euthanasia room. They had too
many dogs at the shelter and Kayla's time was up. She was to
be put to sleep at 5:00 when the shelter closed. I honestly
think Kayla knew too, because I've never seen a pup so happy
as she was when I walked her out the door.

A couple months have gone by and she is very much settled
into her new home and new life. She has started her training
as a search dog and I think she's going to be great at it!
She really seems to enjoy working with me and I sure love
working with her. I still miss my Quentin, one friend never
replaces another. But Kayla has helped me to over come some
of my grief.

It feels good to be working with a K9 partner again.
Besides, I know without a doubt that Quentin is still
watching over me. How else can you explain me ending up at
that shelter, on that day, and rescuing Kayla 15 minutes
before she was to be put to sleep? I think my old partner
knew that I needed Kayla as much as she needed me. It's kind
of nice knowing that I've got a four-legged guardian angel!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Animals form the largest of the natural world's five
kingdoms. Animals are now the dominant form of
life on planet earth.

Biologists classify living things into kingdoms. Each
member of a kingdom are alike in certain ways. The
major kingdoms are: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists,
and Monerans.

Animals have almost 2 million species identified and
even more than that waiting to be identified.

The largest animal is the Baleen Whale which can be up to
82 feet in length and weigh 132 tons. The smallest animals
are microscopic only about .05 mm long.

Animals are grouped into two main groups, vertebrates
and invertebrates. Vertebrates have backbones.

Vertebrates include: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,
and fishes.

Invertebrates include: sponges, cnidarias, flatworms,
roundworms, segmented worms, mollusks, minor phyla,
echinoderms, invertebrate chordatates, and arthropods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brandy

Thank you very much for sending out the great poem. When I
was about 6 months old my parents found a Saint Bernard that
had been born on the same day I was. We had Brandy with us
until our 15th Birthday. She had to be put sleep after a
very long illness. We were so relieved to see an end to her
suffering that I guess I forgot to grieve until I was
reading your poem. I love the thought that my "nanny" (as
we used to refer to her) will be waiting for me at the end.
She used to sleep under my crib and would make sure that mom
was aware any time I was awake. Later, she was never very
far away from me, always there to watch over and protect me.
I can't wait to see her again (or maybe I can -- it'll be
worth the wait).

Thank you.
Donna Stolen



Donna,

Thanks for the really nice letter.

We understand how it is to lose a precious loved one
and can sympathize with you.

It is okay to grieve the lose of our pets. They are our
children.

It is also our belief that our pets come back to visit us
as angels, to watch over us and protect us as they did
when they were physically with us.

Brandy had a soul of love.

It is a universal law that God created that love will never
pass away.

Just as our physical bodies go back to dust, our eternal souls
live forever. It is no different with the pets God gave us to
enjoy.

We're glad the poem helped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Dave,

You sure know how to bring tears to a persons eyes with that
story. I have a very sweet Scottish Terrier that has a blood disorder
and may knot have much longer to enjoy life we spend a lot
of time together as I want to keep him with me for ever. But
when the time comes he will know he was loved as much as
possible
thank you
Cheryll Ryg


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