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Our Solemn Obligation

Just finished your book about Sprite.  It reminded me of each of the last two dogs I have lost.

My first dog had all the symptoms that Sprite exhibited.  I also had two children who were raised with this dog.  I carried her to the vet on her final day.  It was a tough call, but she was at the end of her life.  I cried for days.  I received the nicest letter from our state vet school.  They received her body.  She was part of a successful drug test that gave her several exta quality years.

Our next dog was 16 when she collapsed.  On a Sunday morning I found her paralyzed from the waist back, and covered in her own excrement.  I live on the NC Outer Banks and we do not have regular vet service.  It was going to be 36 hours before a vet came to our island.  I had to put her down myself.  There was no other choice.  I\’ll never forget the the memory of her sad eyes when I put my pistol to her forehead.  I burried her next to a lone Confederate grave about a mile from our home.  I visit her often.

Determining to end a dog\’s life is very difficult, but absolutely necessary.  We have that obligation.

Charles from NC