In Memory of "Joe"

I have been a veterinary technician for 13 years now and the question I hear most often is "How do you deal with the death and suffering you see"? Well most of the time I put my emotions aside and remember that I am there to do a job. Most of the euthanasia's we do are quite humane, to end suffering and therefore easy to deal with. Of course occasionally there is one that breaks my heart and makes my day pretty hard.

Yesterday there was just such a case.

A dog came in very early Saturday morning, you could tell at one time he had been quite handsome and I am sure he used to have the gleam in his eye that I know so well. He was a Pit Bull that had been hit by a car. A good Samaritan stopped to help him in the middle of the night and when he asked the onlookers if they knew who he belonged to; they snatched his collar off, said they had no idea whose dog it was, and drove off into the night. The good Sam (our vet hospital lingo for good Samaritan) brought the poor guy in. He looked beat down and depressed and because he was a Pit my heart instantly went out to him. He was a nice chocolate brown color but his coat was scruffy and unkempt. While he appeared to be unharmed from the car hitting him, his skin was covered with some sort of mange, his cropped ears were full of ticks and his face was badly scarred probably from fighting. I am sure he was full of heartworms and intestinal parasites, as you could see all of his ribs.

I looked at this poor dog and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. I know what kind of dog he could have been if someone hadn't used him for their own selfish pleasure and actually gave him the great life he deserved. We gave him some pain meds, food and a warm bed. He gratefully ate the food and slept soundly and comfortably, probably for the first time in his life, all night.

The next morning it came time to decide what to do with the poor guy. After some calling around to rescues, and asking a bunch of people to take him we realized what we already knew. No one was going to take a mangy, dog aggressive Pit Bull that was covered in mange and full of parasites and heartworms. We decided it would be better to euthanize him at the hospital where he would be surrounded by loving humans than send him to the shelter where he would spend 7-10 days alone, in pain and afraid.

I tried hard to ignore what was going on and decided to stay away from the euthanasia as it was breaking my heart, however the other techs were having a hard time finding his vein and so I was called upon by the doctor to euthanize this poor guy. She sited the reason as being "wouldn't one poke with a needle be better than getting poked several times"? I had to agree, and with an extremely heavy heart I euthanized him and watched as the tiny light left in his eyes drained away. My tears started immediately and I had to leave and compose myself. I secretly named him Joe, after the prize fighter Joe "the Brown Bomber" Louis.

Joe's euthanasia was the hardest I have had to deal with in a while, this poor dog had no chance for a happy life, I am sure he spent his days chained outside with minimal human contact and definitely minimal care. This is one of the reasons I preach so hard about responsible Pit Bull ownership, and pet ownership in general.

That night when I got home I kissed all of my dogs and gave them each extra treats. I couldn't help but think about poor Joe as all of my spoiled dogs settled into their warm soft beds, their bellies full of good food. I wish I could save them all but I realize that I cannot. All I can do is keep going to work and educating the public on responsible pet ownership, as well as set a good example with my own dog pack.