Intro: This is a comment from a visitor to PoC on the page about the relatively high suicide rate of people working in animal rescue. It is poignant and worthy of being re-published as an article.
I worked for a vet clinic as an assistant for two and a half years. The heartless owners that came in would blow my mind. I remember a very very tragic incident, it was the Memorial Day weekend 2010, a very angry man came in with a very small poodle.
The poodle was infested with fleas and was injured because her owner was not kind to this sweetheart at all. Her teeth were very poorly cared for, she was skinny and not to mention old. She was so sweet and she was brought in because she “fell” down a good amount of stairs. Doc and I examined her and he had several broken ribs and internal bleeding. We think he had beat her the threw her down the stairs.
Well he brought her in and he gave him the results of the x-rays and he told up just put her down he didn’t care. I held this baby and cried and told her I loved her as there wasn’t anything we could do. She was suffering. I consoled her and held her. And cried because of the pain this animal and endured at the hands of this man. Doc had euthanized her as I held her and loved on her until she took her last breath.
I remember doc asked the man if he wanted her cremated or wanted to bury her himself and he told us it’s just a dog throw it away.
I asked doc if I could have a box for her and if I could leave to give her a proper burial. I did and it stuck with me all these years at how hurt angry and then depressed I became that this sweetheart had been beaten and abused for who knows how long and there was nothing I wanted more than to give that SOB a taste of his own treatment.
It broke my heart at the things I would see with animals coming into the clinic and I wished I could have saved every single one of the unwanted and uncared for babies.
I realized though that it’s impossible to do that but I looked forward to the successes I did have at the clinic. I’m greatly appreciative of the rescue work others are still doing to save just one soul from the cruel hands of this world. GOD BLESS YOU AND BLESS THE ANIMALS.
