Heartbroken, My dog Joe Options

[imissjoe]

Hi,my name is Debbie I have been a very proud and devoted pet owner of a yellow lab(Joe)for 6yrs what I'm about to tell you is very hard for me.I have three wonderful children, I have been married to a loving husband and father for 17yrs.Sounds perfect doesn't it?The events that have happened over the last 72hrs. has left a hole in our hearts and family forever.I found this site in hopes to find something anything to ease our pain.On Thurs.May 31,2007 we had a mini vacation of camping for our children,we were unable to take our dog Joe because of a no pet rule.We took Joe to our local vet./kennel for a short 4 day stay,we had peace of mind knowing Joe would be well taken care of,we said our goodbye's and left him there with sad eyes and sobs unaware that it would be our last time to ever see him again.We gave all the info.as to where we would be staying/cell phone numbers ect.and off we went.We spent 4 fun days in the sun boating,swimming,fishing,singing,the only thing that was missing was Joe.On the 4th day of June we returned very eagar to go pick up our dog.I called the kennel told them we would be there shortly to pick up Joe,the lady said to just hold the line a moment that the "Doc" needs to speak with you I said O.K. is there a problem?She then said he would call me back within a few minutes.I waited 30 minutes in horror,then my family and I drove like hell to the kennel,I demanded to know what was going on,the vet came out and told us Joe and 5 other dogs excaped the kennel on Sat morning about 9:30am.That they were able to recover all the dogs except our Joe.They then lied to me and told me Joe was seen earlier and that he was still on the proptery.So franticly we began to search for our Joe, it is now 2:00pm on Monday.We searched for Joe up untill 4:am Tues morning.We returned home for rest then cont. our search at 8:30 am Tues morning.We then went door to door asking everyone if they had seen Joe.We came upon a man with a black lab,and asked him and he told us a young couple that lives a street over had witnessed a yellow get hit by a car in front of the local Wal-mart on Sunday afternoon around 4pm.They turned around and stopped the traffic and got Joe out of the roadway and took him to another local vets. office.The couple beat on the door untill the someone finally came and let them in the office is normally closed on Sunday and thought they had lucked up and he would help Joe.They told him what had happened,and didn't have much money but would give him what they had if he would help them.The vet. then told the couple he would have to have the money up front in order to operate and stop the internal bleeding.The couple then call family and friends to try and get the money but they couldn't find anyone willing to loan them the money to try and save our Joe.The vet then turned them away with a pain pill,and told them to keep him quite he might make it.But they knew if Joe didn't get medical att.he would in fact die.So they took Joe home and called my Vets office and left a message on the emergency line but noone ever called.Joe bled to death on a blanked in the floor of their bedroom on monday June 4th at 1:30 am. I am very greatful for what they tried to do for Joe,and they are grieving as well.They took Joe and buried him at the edge of the woods on a country road and cried.As for me and my family we are lost.Joe can never be replaced,Joe will never be forgotten.The pain he suffered,has now became our own.Thank you for sharing our story,our loss,our grief.
I Miss Joe

[toonie]

Debbie, this is terrible, I am so so sorry for all of you in your family and especially for you Debbie because I sense that you and Joe shared a special bond on top of the bond that all the family shared with Joe. I can not even try to understand why such a thing would have happened to you and to your family. The way the nightmare started, with the dogs escaping during those particular 4 days, one could say that was fate... (eventhough the blame lies with the vets' for having had inadequate facilities) The way the nightmare continued with Joe being hit by a car , fate again....That Joe was taken care of by this lovely couple is your only comfort surely Joe felt better to be in their bedroom than all alone somewhere on a roadside. I know how it feels for you to wonder why, when all else is perfect must this awful thing happen. I just don't know, all I can say is that it has nothing to do with you, you took a very short vacation compared to what other families do, what can I say except that none of us understands why this had to happen that way. I know of another family like yours that left for a 10 days vacation and boarded their 8yr old dog at a kennel and the dog died of renal failure just the very morning they were supposed to pick him up; why? there again no idea.
It is very hard for you right now, but like John and Mo& Maisie's mom suggested, you should report these awful vets. I would not be able to keep my anger inside and would take action even through the tears and emotions...I would do so in order to avoid someone else having to deal with these people's heartlessness...knowing that if no one stops them, they will go on with their ways and someone else will suffer like you had to. You have a lot of reasons for anger. You have zero reasons for guilt. You did all that you could, it's these other #$%?&*(.)(.)_ who are to blame, I am so so mad at them....I am angry for Joe, for your family,for your children, for breaking your poor heart.....Perhaps all you can do is cry and grieve, if that is so don't be afraid to show your feelings, this is a family opportunity to learn to cope with the bad stuff by helping one another grieve, after all, we know we will not be immune to such things throughout our lives..still, it didn't have to happen with Joe, I know....Courage all of you, it is so very hard we grieve with you and for you.
I pray that you will not meet any more such monsters for the rest of your lives.
I hope that Joe has the power to send you strength to slay these dragons unless he prefers to just send you tons of love and strength from where he is now. He now has the ability to rest in your hearts, know this and seek comfort from there.
Take care. Let us know how things are going, we care and we share.