Despite another sleepless night I started out so productive and upbeat, I thought "Hey! Things are looking up!" I found out the bagel HR lady was on vacation and that I should be hearing about my new job soon, I got to talk to a recruiter from Syracuse University about Part time work and starting school, and I got an appointment with medicaid to enroll and get my medication started.
Things were looking up and I was starting to feel positive again.
I was feeling really good until my fiance came home in a panic saying Kane my little boy (my Pit Bull) had been attacked on his walk by another Pit Bull/Labrador mix.
He'd been walking down the sidewalk with Crash when the Pit bull jumped out of the guys front porch and launched himself at Kane. Kane tried to run away until the other dog went after Crash, then Kane pinned the other dog down until Crash managed to pull them apart and get the other dog away from Kane by kicking it in the head.
By the end of the fight Crash had lost a shoe, got a cut on his lip, and been bitten by the other dog.
Kane has an open sore on his paw, a split lip, and a gash above his eye.
The entire time though despite Kane being a former Fighting Dog he only fought the other dog when the Dog went after Crash.
Crash separated them and called Kane off and Kane collapsed and began to cry and whimper and hyperventilate and Crash ended up running home 3 blocks home with Kane in his arms crying. (all 70 pounds)
Kane was hyperventilating and bleeding when he got home but despite being in enormous pain and panicked he only snapped at me once.
Yet then it was only to put his mouth on my hand so gently just to say "OK, That hurts really really REALLY bad, stop touching it." Then whimpered and collapsed again.
I called my friend who is a Vet and she came driving over like a bat outta hell with her sack and we began to try to get Kane calmed down and patched up.
I ended up having to put him in his dog crate on ice packs and making him drink Smart water from a sports bottle. The vet said he had some of the other dogs tooth stuck in his gums and lips.
We managed to get it out by dosing Kane with some Buprinex that I gave him orally to kill the pain and Kane didn't growl or bite or anything.
In fact the only thing that made it hard to get the bits of broken teeth out of his mouth were him trying to lick us. Kane luckily had no broken teeth and his gums look good after being rinsed with h202 and water. I gave him Clindamyacin and will see if that will work and if not we will start a stronger antibiotic. I think that since we cleaned him up and bathed him so fast after the fight that he will be OK.
After we cleaned up his cuts and super glued them together with 3M VetBond and I gave him a sedative that the vet had brought over.
He is currently sleeping in his crate on our memory foam mattress that we ended up making him out of our old mattress topper. Poor guy is beat. We ended up moving his crate next to our bed so we could hear him if he whimpers in the night to dose him with pain meds.
What pisses me off is that this other pit was a actual fighting dog, he was NOT on a leash, he didn't have his shots (thank god Kane does!) AND Kane was on his leash on the sidewalk and didn't instigate anything.
The owner was sorry and kept apologizing but didn't help break up the fight, didn't offer Crash a ride home, and didn't even offer him a towel for Kane;s blood or to pay for vet bills.
I went over there later with the vet and my two cop friends who investigate dog fighting and they demanded to check him dog with myself (a veterinary assistant) and the vet.
The dog was battered from other fights, had most of its teeth missing, had fleas and the beginnings of red mange, and had chains wrapped around its neck.
The cops immediately seized the dog and sadly the Vet decided with the owner that this dog was in rough shape (numerous broken ribs an eye infection, and skin tags hanging off its stomach) Plus he was absolutely petrified and aggressive toward the cops and bit his owner twice while we stood there talking to him. This dog was so far gone, there was no saving him. I felt homicidal toward the idiot who let this happen.
The Vet offered to Euthanize the dog for no charge and the owner immediately surrendered the dog and didn't even ask to come with to say goodbye.
So I went with the dog to the clinic, as did the two police officers which I was really moved by.
I went and held a paw, told him he was a good boy and this was not his fault, and he died surrounded by people who cared about him.
The guy doesn't know he is getting charged with assault (failure to contain a dog with a history of aggression, he should have been wearing a leader or basket muzzle, or on leash.) Failure to provide adequate care, gross neglect, and failure to comply because it was his third warning and he wasn't even supposed to OWN a dog after the stuff he'd done with his other dogs. He is getting arrested tomorrow AM as soon as the judge wakes up and signs the warrants. I get to sign an affidavit with the vet, I hope the guy gets 5,000 fine and has to go to jail.
The thing that pisses me off and alternately makes me the most upset is that if Kane had come to us any later, or to anyone else, he would be that dog. Dead, wasted away, and forgotten as a "bad Pit Bull"
But today decided me. If a former fighting dog that lost a fight and was dumped on our steps can learn to walk/run away from a fight and only fight back to protect his owner and then be so gentle with kids, cats, battered women, mentally retarded adults, and me the cripple? That dog deserves every single chance in the book because he is a symbol that despite horrible fate, there are great beings that can be compassionate despite overcoming terrible pain.
I have full faith that we can help Kane get over this and still work on being a good dog (which he has been miraculous in his learning curve and growth into a great house dog and leash dog) despite what happened tonight, anything is possible.
Now I owe it to both of those dogs to make sure no one forgets the power of kindness and a huge heart. I owe it to every dog to offer second chances, and remember those who never even got a first chance.
Rest in peace Unnamed Pit Bull. I'm just sorry you had to have that kind of life, and I promise Kane will never have that life.
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