And hello new dog nightmares. As if flashback dog horror doesn’t happen every time I hear the theme from Flashdance, I now have a new hell to haunt me.
Know how sometimes you get that bone-deep feeling of foreboding? I think it’s pretty obvious I had that sort of thing happening with the ongoing Elvie Saga. Sadly, very sadly, Elvie is no more, and he met his end in a way that made me very angry. No, he did not jump the fence, run off and get hit by a car, as you may have expected (see previous 3 blog entries). It only took a few minutes. He died in his backyard, in the middle of the day, his chain wrapped around the chain post, shade and water out of reach. You hear about idiots who leave their animals inside their cars in the middle of summer. Dogs die in hot cars. Dogs die the same way in back yards in the beginning of summer too.
I feel responsible. Although there is no reason that I should, I still feel like it’s my fault. I saw Elvie on his shortened chain, and he was jerking on it as usual, barking too. It made me uneasy. I had a sense of dread, but this was something I’d seen and heard before so I figured…Yes, when I saw him, at 2pm, I could have climbed over the fence and given him some slack, but I was wary of him, especially when he was riled up, anxious, and in HIS territory. We know this. I told y’all how I thought I was out of my league with this muscled-up dog.
So, because he was in his yard instead of mine, I did nothing.
Well, that’s not completely true. I checked on him a little while later, maybe 15-20 minutes later, and he was lying down in the grass–albeit in the full sun. Since he’d stopped barking, I thought his owner had come home. But she hadn’t.
Elvie’s owners may not have had any intention for their dog’s demise, but it happened due to their negligence.
I hugged Budman and said a little prayer for Elvie. Maybe you will too.
:'( I gather this was the dog who lived next door? Do not blame yourself. I swear people should need to qualify to have pets.
Okay, I just read the other post. He sounds like he was mistreated in the past and that is why he was acting like that. We have had traumatised dogs, and you have to take even more care for them. And you shouldn’t have them around children because children do the unexpected and scare them. And people should need to qualify to have pets, because they don’t know how to look after them. If they are chained up, they need to be able to reach shade, even when they wrap their chain around the pole, etc. And always have access to water. Poor Elvie :'(
We went away on holiday when I was a teen, and asked our next door neighbours to check on our dogs EVERY DAY, as we did theirs when they were away. Dad came home every three days to check on the livestock and we thought everything was taken care of. Unfortunately we came back to see our beautiful boy in the same state because they had neglected to check on him. No water and his chain caught, in summer. It was heart breaking. I hate how people abuse dogs, but I hate it more when they neglect them! Intentionally by mistake.
You are not to blame. They are. They should have chosen an appropriate type of dog (breed and temperament) for a small family, and they should have paid better care to him. Please don’t blame yourself. Just think, he is probably in a doggie heaven somewhere roaming free through the wild… ((hugs))