I woke up Sunday and did something that had become second nature over the past few months--found where my puppy, Katy, was sleeping against my back and moved her so I could get out of bed. I also saw a tissue she shredded on the floor and threw it away, grumbling a bit. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, I double- checked that I'd shut the bathroom door (she frequently tore apart rolls of toilet paper). Coming back to bed, Katy was so excited to see me that her tail and butt were wagging in opposite directions.
This is how I woke up every morning since we brought Katy home in February. If I'd only known that Sunday was the last morning I'd have those moments with her.
About 3:30 that afternoon, I was sitting on the bench in the front yard resting after doing some planting. My husband was outside putting away his tools after finishing some work on my raised garden beds. Katy was right there with us...hooked to the 20 ft lead attached to a stake in the front yard. She was playing with the pug from next door, who was on a leash held by the neighbor's six-year-old visiting granddaughter. I was enjoying watching Katy play with the much-older pug, Titus, when I saw a large, white blur in the corner of my eye. I heard an ominous growl and the blur raced in a direct line to my Katy, grabbing her midsection in her large jaws before I could even move, breathe or scream.
The dog immediately started violently shaking her side to side, the same way my Katy would play with her toys. And Katy almost looked like a toy in comparison to the larger dog...but then Katy started screaming. I already was.
My husband tried grabbing the dog, but it didn't have a collar so there was nothing to hold on to. By the end of the third or forth horrific shaking, my husband had the dog by the ears and was laying on top of it...and still it wouldn't let go. Neighbors came over with wood, metal even a piece of a skateboard and tried prying it's jaws open, beating it on the head, anything to help...one neighbor tried to gouge its eyes.
It still wouldn't let go.
By now, my 12-year-old daughter heard Katy scream and had come racing out of her room. She had a piece of plywood in her hand and she was beating the dog over the head through her screams and sobs. I was hysterical...sobbing and begging the lady at 911 to get someone here. Finally, another neighbor came racing over with a heavy chain and started choking the dog.
It finally let go...but I knew it was far too late. I didn't tell my daughter when she scooped up Katy and raced for the SUV that I'd heard the crack of our beautiful puppy's back breaking during the second shaking...the one where she screamed and went limp. As it was, Katy's heart was still barely beating and there was still breath in her body so as far as we were concerned, there was still hope. My husband pealed out of the driveway and the lady at 911 told me to wait for the police...and also told me she'd let the police know not to stop the speeding Ford. I found out later that a few minutes into the trip, my daughter felt Katy's last heartbeat against her body and heard her last breath as she died in my daughter's arms.
The owners of the dog? They finally came AFTER Katy was out of its mouth and he proceeded to walk it back across the street, ignoring me when I said he needed to wait for the police. He took it behind the aunt's house and...let it go...
Yup...he let it go to avoid the police and Animal Control. He and his girlfriend have spent the last several days defying the order to surrender the animal.
The point of me telling this whole, horrific story is this...WE DID NOTHING WRONG. We were obeying the law and the rules of the trailer court management...we owned a dog that would never get larger than 30 lbs. We made sure she was leashed AT ALL TIMES. We didn't allow her around non-neutered males while she was in heat. (...but dealt with plenty of them coming to our yard and did so in a civil manner.) The dog that killed my Katy was with visitors who didn't even own a leash or a collar, were keeping her in a yard with a broken fence and didn't bother to stop her when she raced into our yard. And now, they are defying the law by not bringing her in to Animal Control.
What my family has once again learned from this incident is that when people don't follow laws, rules, ethical standards, etc...the people who DO follow the law are usually the ones to get hurt. Then, the law-abiding victims spend excessive amounts of time, energy, money, etc...attempting to get justice from immoral, unethical people who act like they are the victims.
I swear this is the motto for Alaska. |
