It's hard for me to sit and write this, but I have a great need to reach out to others who are going through or who have gone through this similar horror. My family and I recently moved to a new state and have begun a new life. Everything has been great and I finally was able to get my five year old daughter a puppy...which she has wanted so badly. I got a little shi-poo for her early in December as an early Christmas gift. He was such a little ball of fluff...we named him Gizmo because he reminded us of a little Gremlin from the old movie. He was our life...such a bundle of joy, loved everyone. He was my daughters best friend. We spent every minute with him and he even slept in the bed with us at night. I knew this would be the puppy that would hold our hearts forever. Yesterday, I had promised to take my daughter to the park to play and we decided to take Gizzy with us because he also loves to play outside. We were at the park for about an hour...Gizzy was on his leash the whole time. Some of the children that were there wanted to hold him and walk him on his leash, and I let them play with him. I had noticed a family there with another big dog on a leash, but they had him on the other side of the park, so I didn't really think much of it. Well, one of the little girls that my daughter was playing with was walking Gizzy around in front of me (I was sitting on the park bench)..and she walked toward the corner of the fenceline and it was like slow motion. That big dog (which I now know was a pit bull/boxer mix) came around that corner like a shot and grabbed our Gizzy and that was it. I feel like it was a bad dream from there...kind of like slow motion. The big dog was still leashed, but apparently the people who had him couldn't hold him tight. All I heard was Gizmo screaming...and when I got to him, he was kind of rolling around on the ground crying. I grabbed him up and all I could think of at that time was getting him some help. It was Saturday afternoon of course, and I was panick stricken. I kept asking the people standing around me at the park to tell me where to go....I knew Gizzy was hurt terribly. No one there was much help to me at all. I was trying to get my daughter...who was hysterical in the car and get Gizzy in the car to get some help....I headed toward the vet..but I knew they were closed. Needless to say...once we got in the car..Gizmo whimpered a few times but by then I knew he wouldn't make it. I was driving like a maniac through town, and once I realized he was gone, I pulled over and stopped. I called my dad and son to come get me...for I was falling apart. I also called 911 and the police tried to help me find the dog and family, but by the time we went back to the park, they were gone. As was everyone else who saw what happened. Now that I have had a sleepless night and horrible images that I can't get out of my head, I have to stop and thank God that my daughter wasn't mauled by the dog. My grief and guilt are killing me now and although my family is upset, no one is as bad as I am. I feel like its my fault. I should never have let the kids take him walking...I should have paid more attention to that other dog. After all, Gizzy was my baby and my responsibility. I don't know what to do with myself now. All I do is cry.
I just wanted to share and be amongst people who know how I am feeling. Thanks

You poor dear ~ please do not beat yourself up over this ~ We all have so many what ifs that it could drive us crazy if we let it ~ I am so sorry this happened to you ~ you did not do anything wrong ~ life is so unpredictable ~ and each day is a gift ~ You are in my prayers and thoughts ~ Remember the last thing little Gizzy saw was his Mommy saving him and the love and safety he felt knowing you were there as ever ~ You SAVED him from the big dog and rushed him away ~ Remember the LOVE ~ that is what keeps your baby safe and sound in the arms of your heart forever ~ one with the other ~ God Bless You ~

Kimmid, I am so sorry for your loss of your precious of Gizmo Sudden deaths like that are even harder to deal with. When you know your pet is ill and isn't going to make it you have time to prepare yourself emotionally for what is about to happen. When they are taken suddenly like that it is a total shock and our hearts aren't even prepared. I know you are never really prepared for a pets death, I am sure everyone here knows what I am trying to say. My heart aches for you and your family. My prayers are with you.

You are not alone in feeling like it was your fault. Like someone else said, the what ifs will drive you crazy. On Jan.7 my daughter stepped on one of my ferrets. We rushed her to the emergency vets. She was in shock and was given the right meds for shock, had xrays and blood tests. Several xrays over the course of the night showed no internal ruptures but a small part of her pelvis/right hip was broken. That was fixable. Sadly though she passed away 7 hrs later. I opted to not do a necropsy but now I wish I had. It is the vets guess she died from shock. Coco wasn't even 2 yrs old yet. She was a happy ferret, so full of life and joy. She was given to me in June 2005, she never had a decent life then and was given the best life here that she could ever have. I have always been very careful with the ferrets and grilled it into all the heads here to walk with a shuffle to avoid this very tragedy. This was one of the times my 23 yr old daughter used poor judgement. Coco loved to bite feet and that is what she was doing. She moved away and just as my daughter placed her foot on the floor Coco had swung around and got her rear end under Mandys foot. I will never forgive myself because just 5 min before that I had been holding her and kissing her sweet nose, telling her how much I loved her. If only I had still been holding her, if only I didn't get them out to play that night since it was late, if only I put them away sooner, if only.............

Just know my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I believe we will be with out departed pets again someday. I am looking forward to that. I just hope my arms are big enought to gather all of them.

I am so so sorry.

I had two little toy Yorkies, my Holly passed away on Jan25th. I still have Sammy who is her puppy.
Them being so small the big dogs are always a risk and after seeing a Yorkie being killed by a Greyhound many years ago I am always extra extra careful around large dogs. Even so, two years ago Sammy ended up in the mouth of an Akita dog while we were walking in the woods. Luckily Sammy wasn't hurt too badly, mainly bruised and sore.
No matter how hard we try to protect our little ones sometimes we can't, we can only do our best to help them and that you certainly did. Please don't blame yourself for what happened, it was in no way your fault.
You did your best for Gizzy and he knows that.

What a horrible thing to have happen.
I am so sorry for you all.
As one other person pointed out at least Gizzy died knowing he was loved.

I don't know how you feel right now in regards to those other people but I would be furious. I would do my best to make sure this dog had a muzzle on in public places if the owners can't control him. Maybe putting up posters in the park asking those who were there to help you identify the owners. This is a dangerous dog - hopefully the owners realize this now and will do everything in their power to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again but maybe the poster or a call for help in the newspapers would bring attention to these people.

I'm so sorry poor little Gizzy lost his life because someone had a vicious unmuzzled dog in the park. This should not have happened.

I am so so sorry for the loss your family has suffered, and I think it's very commendable of you to want to reach out to others in this time of pain. I know it's hard to look ahead and think anything will ever be positive or encouraging in the time ahead, and it will be difficult. How is your daughter doing? Seeing something so traumatic is horrible for everyone involved, and young children can be more affected than they always let on. Your daughter may also feel somehow responsible, although it wasn't anyone's responsiblity except the people who didn't control their dog, even though he was leashed. I hope the police took a report, because the other dog is dangerous, and now his owners (or whoever was holding onto him) know that. A letter to the editor of your paper, or posters, as another person suggested, is another way to try to inform the public. Gizzy of course leaves a legacy for you and your family, and another legacy he leaves could be to keep what happened to him from happening to another pet or a human.

All this won't change the grief you feel, of course. It will hurt, and horrify, and upset you and your family, and again, I'm so sorry for you all. I've found that sharing the difficult times with others who have also experienced loss can be helpful. Please come back and let us know how you and your family are doing. Take care - Barbara