Last night, I finished reading \’Rescuing Sprite\’. Keep in mind, I have A.D.D. I dont read much, but when I do , it has to be something that really grabs my attention. I just had to euthenize my 15 1/2 year old Jack Russell Terrior, Stella. I was traumatized as a teenager when I got home from school one day, to find out that my father had given my dog away to a stranger. Now an adult, I layed eyes on this cute little pup I named Stella, brought her home, and treated her like the princess she was. We were inseperable, still attached to imbillical cord. From the start, a women in a shop tried to steal her out of my hands. From then on, it was a relationship that even the jaws of life couldn\’t seperate us. I was the overprotective parent. Constantly doding over her and gladly.

Your book made me happy and sad at the same time. The hardest part was the end, of course, when you were having to decide the ultimate end for your pet. Im really having a hard time about now, since Mothers Day, which is when \’it\’ happened for my little girl. It\’s now hitting me that she\’ll never return. I realize all the good stuff, about cherishing the good memories and realizing that I gave her the best life possible. I spent $5600 in one week for her at the emergency towards the end, when she was diagnosed with \’Pancreatitis\’. I beat myself up for giving her her final meal, which, not like me, I gave her a large chunk of steak fat. She inhaled it. One thing I could always bank on was that this girl could eat. Well…the docs have assured me that she must have had other issues going on..and that my final \’fat\’ wasn\’t the nail on her coffin. Well..I do have to say..I dont buy it. I live with the guilt that I may have very well done her in. Yes, she was old. Yes, she had bad cataracts. Yes, she was deaf. But did she continue to have a zest to live? Yes. This is what I have a hard time with.

Im dealing with this all as best I can. Crying when I run past her favorite spots and park. Missing her something ferosiously.
I want to express my passionate heartfelt feelings for anyone out there who has had to put a friend down. It hurts. But as your book says, theres more joy to having a dog then there is sorrow and pain. True, when the sorrow/pain comes along, it cuts thru you like a knife. Thank you Mark for sharing her story with us. It made me feel much better. I dont think I can own another dog ever again. It just hurts me to the core too much. I say this now…..but Im already having an itching to visit a shelter in the area…..\’just\’ to take a look and perhaps  touch some of the dogs and say \’hello\’. :) We\’ll see …you never ever know. Heres  a photo of Stella. She was a fiesty little terrorist….but a friend to the end.

Tony from CA