nixtress's Diaryland Diary

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sad heart

It's a windy morning here but otherwise tolerable.
Our morning began a little differently than is typical. I took GracieDog out for her morning routine and found a big black dog wandering the front yards in our neighborhood.
He was very unstable on his feet, weaving like an old drunk, obviously elderly. His eyes were glazed over in the way that shows he's had cataracts for quite some time and his muzzle was greying. His ribs were showing but he had an odd sort of lump on his side, either from injury or illness of some sort. At one point, he literally fell over in a pile of leaves and then just curled up, like he had no energy to try to stand just then.
I took him out some dog food and water and very literally, he didn't see me until I was nearly on top of him.
I felt so badly for this dog, in the twilight of his life and left to wander our streets in such a predicament.
I tried calling our local dog warden but he has regular business hours (like dogs don't need help during non-business hours?!) so I ended up leaving a message instead. After a time, Mr. Black Dog got up from his pile of leaves and meandered over to the bowl of water and drank like it was going to evaporate in minutes. He ate probably half the bowl of food I'd set out and then began to weave his way out into the street. The YoungJackAss who lives up around the bend from us came speeding down our street and had to come to an abrupt stop because the dog just didn't move. I took Gracie's leash out and maneuvered him into the garage and then brought in the food and water and an old comforter.
Finally got through to the dog warden and he came to retrieve him. I honestly think he'll just be put down but even that's preferable to leaving this dog to his own devices.
Made me sad. When a dog gets that old, he deserves a soft place to rest, a steady hand to help him and regular food and water. He needs to be babied, no differently than I do with my Gramps. Instead, he's been either abandoned or left to roam far from home, nearly blind and bereft of the love that should come in one's old age.
Poor pooch. A somber beginning to my morning.
***
In other news, happy Halloween. Enjoy stealing candy bars from your kids! I highly recommend it.

N.

9:57 a.m. - 2006-10-31

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

previous - next