We have three dogs. When the first one was a puppy, SS asked me if I had to save one of them, would I choose him or the puppy. LOL

He was seriously jealous of him. Anytime I hear about some having to put down their pet, its heartbreaking. Mine are 4, 3 and 1. Likely, they will go in succession. Gets me sad just thinking about it.

Ugh, I just read the Marinna Rollins/Jarren Heng story and about vomited up my lunch. I have no clue how anyone could intentionally be cruel to an animal, especially one that has stood faithfully by your side. Hell, I've whacked my dogs here and there with a car door, or house door by mistake every once in a while or stepped on a tail etc and I cry that I caused them pain.. even though it was completely unintentional. I just can't imagine doing it purposely.

But as my dad told me he learned at the FBI academy. We can not even TRY to understand these types of people (serial killers, sociopaths etc) because our "normal" brains simply aren't wired the way theirs are.

I already know when I have to put my cat to sleep that I am going to be a mess. I have had her since I was 21. I'm almost 36. She's been by my side through so much. I cuddle her at night and not DH. LOL.

When we had to put BS's cat to sleep this past January it was really sad but it was almost a relief because he was sick with cancer and I worried so much about him and how he was feeling. I felt better knowing he wasn't sick anymore. But the house definitely isn't the same with him gone.

I have no bios. Mr. P is my BABY. Shortly after his surgery, someone's dog was running loose and the owner was giving chase. She was headed straight for us and I yelled, "Is she friendly?" And he yelled, "NO, SHE BITES!" I stepped in FRONT of Mr. P, ready to fend her off. No way I was going to let that mean beeyotch hurt my darling boy!

I think there is a website that will tell you if the movie has an animal death in it.

I think it really comes down to the fact that animals are just being animals. For better or worse, their actions are not premeditated. They are either taught or learned through us humans or are their natural primal instinct. So often animals suffer for our own shortcomings.

The people that ditch their dog or cat because it stopped being cute. The people who didn't bother to train their dog or supervise their dog and the dog is hit by a car or bites someone.

There is a heartbreaking local story. A dog supposedly "accidentally had his tooth snag a toddler's cheek and split it open". The parents pressed charges and insisted the dog be destroyed.. which he was, today as a matter of fact. The owner is trying to turn it into a positive, but her loss is just palpable. Honestly, the dog being a pitt mix didn't help I'm sure. I am also not 100% believing that the dog just happened to snag the cheek while licking. Now I HAVE been head butted by a dog, lol. but an accidental snag that splits a face open??? um not to sure about that. But, obviously the dog seems to have not had a bad history and the woman loved her dog. There were no options for her other than to surrender and PTS. Did she not train well enough.. maybe. Should someone have been supervising the child.. probably.

But, again, another case of an animal suffering due to humans not doing right by them.

I get you though.. even in the case above where the dog might have had some aggression, it makes me sad that they had to lose their life.

I don’t think I can have any more animals. It is too heart wrenching to lose them!

I lost my 20 year old cat about 5 years ago and last month I had to put my 16 year old sweetheart (dog) to sleep. It was the most hear wrenching thing I have ever done. It still stabs my heart when I think about her and the fact that she is no longer in my house. UGH. Well actually she is still in my house. I had her cremated and her urn in on the fireplace.

My DH laughs at me. We can be watching a slasher movie with people dying left and right and then a dog/cat shows up on the show and I always tell him…if the dog dies I won’t watch the rest of the movie! He is always like…”You just watched 5 people get blown away!” It is different. Way different.

no bios, grandpa is my furbaby soulmate. i know i will come UNGLUED when it's his time. he's 12 1/2 and a large breed. i'd happily take fifty more years with him.

neither dh nor i are able to watch the sarah mclaughlin commercials. the channel gets changed IMMEDIATELY.

I am bio free and now ... dog free, sadly. I think Rudyard Kipling captured it best:

I have done mostly what most men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can't forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.

Day after day, the whole day through --
Wherever my road inclined --
Four-feet said, "I am coming with you!"
And trotted along behind.

Now I must go by some other round, --
Which I shall never find --
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.

And the other, is "Beau" by the actor Jimmy Stewart. So touching and so relevant to those of us who love our pets so deeply.

Beau

He never came to me when I would call
Unless I had a tennis ball,
Or he felt like it,
But mostly he didn't come at all.
When he was young
He never learned to heel
Or sit or stay,
He did things his way.

Discipline was not his bag
But when you were with him things sure didn't drag.
He'd dig up a rosebush just to spite me,
And when I'd grab him, he'd turn and bite me.

He bit lots of folks from day to day,
The delivery boy was his favorite prey.
The gas man wouldn't read our meter,
He said we owned a real man-eater.

He set the house on fire
But the story's long to tell.
Suffice it to say that he survived
And the house survived as well.

On the evening walks, and Gloria took him,
He was always first out the door.
The Old One and I brought up the rear
Because our bones were sore.

He would charge up the street with Mom hanging on,
What a beautiful pair they were!
And if it was still light and the tourists were out,
They created a bit of a stir.

But every once in a while, he would stop in his tracks
And with a frown on his face look around.
It was just to make sure that the Old One was there
And would follow him where he was bound.

We are early-to-bedders at our house--
I guess I'm the first to retire.
And as I'd leave the room he'd look at me
And get up from his place by the fire.

He knew where the tennis balls were upstairs,
And I'd give him one for a while.
He would push it under the bed with his nose
And I'd fish it out with a smile.

And before very long
He'd tire of the ball
And be asleep in his corner
In no time at all.

And there were nights when I'd feel him
Climb upon our bed
And lie between us,
And I'd pat his head.

And there were nights when I'd feel this stare
And I'd wake up and he'd be sitting there
And I reach out my hand and stroke his hair.
And sometimes I'd feel him sigh
and I think I know the reason why.

He would wake up at night
And he would have this fear
Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,
And he'd be glad to have me near.

And now he's dead.
And there are nights when I think I feel him
Climb upon our bed and lie between us,
And I pat his head.

And there are nights when I think
I feel that stare
And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,
But he's not there.

Oh, how I wish that wasn't so,
I'll always love a dog named Beau.

There is a website called "doesthedogdie" that tells if an animal is injured or dies in a movie. I have avoided movies because of info from this site. It has always puzzled me that so many so called "children's" movies and books involve the death of an animal. I can't handle it.

Post came up a little late due to a power outage on my end.

I just cancelled my plans for tonight so I can go home and give Mr. P all my attention.

When I walk in the door of the house the first things I say hello to are the Kitties.
I know SD13 notices this.
And SD11 enters and runs to sweet boy cat to give him a hug.

here, ladies -

https://myglasspets.com/

there are also artists who can take your beloved furbaby's ashes and convert them into a beautiful piece of art. but the suncatchers are my favorite...

I'm in general an animal lover. I can't have dogs in the apartment but still.

This is a story about my sister. She's younger than me and doesn't exactly think things through.

She's had a very steady boyfriend for many many years now. About 3 year's ago she supposedly got pregnant by accident. We really think she and her boyfriend wanted the baby and just didn't want to be told how irresponsible it was to have one at that time.

They were both fresh out of high school and neither one had that great of jobs. Well on top of that she ends up rescuing large dogs. Found them as puppies on the street and decided to keep them.

So two kids basically trying to make ends meet, getting ready to have a baby in a tiny tailor with 2 large dogs.

She very sadly miscarried. It was hard on all of us. My sister really bonded with the female dog.

They end up moving in with my dad and the dog gets pregnant. Dad demands sister gets dog fixed since she is living with him and the two older dogs were brother and sister.

Being low income they use a survive around here that lets her get the dog fixed for like 25 bucks. You drop the animal off in the morning pick them up in the evening.

Next day the vet is closed and dog is clearly NOT ok. Ends up dying because of the vet doing the surgery wrong.

She now has a tattoo of the dog on her leg. My mom and I couldn't figure it out. She's had alot of animals. We've lost alot of them. Couldn't understand why this one was special.

Then I put it together. The dog was how she handled losing the child. It became her child. Then she lost it too. It wasn't just a dog but her baby.
She still has the brother and the puppy but she always talks about losing Hera.

Sometimes pets are so much more then just animals.

On a good note my sister went on to have two children. She tried saying again the first one was a mistake (not unwanted) even though it was the exact same time. Now the little girl. I heard the fear when she called me. Both children are very well loved and taken care of. By no means will they ever feel unwanted. Now if we can just get her to finish college before having another. She wants 4.