Pets Quality Of Life
"Lucky"
We too lost our Dalmatian Lucky on November 16, 2008 suddenly. We were very heart broken and didn't think we would adopt again...8 weeks later we adopted from the Dalmatian REscue of SW Virgina....didn't realize how sad we were until Pongo and Jouree came into our lives...the following is a letter I sent to the Associated Humane Societies of Tinton Falls right after Lucky's death...I thought you might enjoy it!
LUCKY... A HEARTWARMING STORY!
Eight and half years ago we lost our 14 year old male Dalmation. Every month after his death I would go to the Humane Society to look at the dogs. I just went to look….I never once thought I could ever love a dog like I loved him, and didn’t see myself as a dog owner again. Luckily, I was wrong! Four months later on a hot August afternoon, my husband and I stopped in to your Shafto Road location in Tinton Falls. As we were walking around we noticed two female Dalmatians, and one them looked just like the male we previously lost. The other one was a bit more aggressive to get our attention. On this particular day they were still being held to see if they would be claimed by their owner. Alas, they weren’t and they were ready for adoption. We couldn’t make a decision. We loved dogs, particularly the Dalmation breed but, we never wanted to feel the pain of losing something so precious to us again.
After two weeks of going back and forth, the dogs were still not adopted from your facility. So at the end of August, 2000 we became the proud parents of one of the Dalmations who became our LuckyGirl. She was a diamond in the rough-- a bit skittish but, we knew with a little love and attention this rough diamond would be our savior of our wounded hearts. Very quickly, we fell in love with her and the joy was so great that our grief was lifted. She grew into the most spectacular diamond that shone brightly in our hearts for the following 8 years, and I suspect for really the rest of our lives.
Unfortunately today, November 16, 2008, she passed on. We wanted you to know how grateful we are to an agency like the Associated Humane Society for doing what you do. The absolute joy we were so fortunate to experience over these past 8 years was incredible. From the moment we got Lucky from you, she had a full and very active life. She visited Joe Palaia Park, Ocean Township almost every day of her life. She enjoyed the 3.2 mile walk in the morning and sometimes a similar walk around our neighborhood in the evenings. Whether it was 20 degrees or 100 degrees she looked forward to those walks. She almost enjoyed them as much as she did eating big dinners (she loved my cooking!).
Being a stay at home mother she was my friend and companion throughout my days when my children were in school. She attended their extracurricular activities when they were young, and would enjoy our car rides every afternoon to run my errands. We even enjoyed afternoon siestas together in recent year or two. I am going to miss those quiet afternoons when we would cuddle and rest together.
About 4 weeks ago we noticed something wasn’t right with our Lucky while taking her for our early morning walk. She had a heart murmur for years but, the murmur, unbeknownst to us, became very significant over the past year since her last well visit. Her very recent diagnosis was that Lucky was in congestive heart failure. Her condition progressed and worsened so quickly. She could not breathe and would have a constant cough to try to clear her lungs. She was hospitalized last Thursday morning and when she came home that evening she was like her old self. By Saturday night, the symptoms of heart failure returned and the medications were not working. Her body was struggling to breathe. Her life shouldn’t be just a struggle to take a breath, and we knew there was no more time to be bought.
We wanted you to know that Lucky was so loved. Sadly to say, we are once again as we were eight and a half years ago, heartbroken today. She gave us so much more than we could have given to her. We spent an enormous amount of time with her and gave her the best life we could. She loved to eat and every day she would run to my husband’s car to greet him after work…she was “our family” not just part of our family.
Again, thank you for what you do on a daily basis….trying to help find homes for wonderful animals like our Lucky. Actually, we are the “Lucky” ones ….we are better people by having her be a part of lives for those 8 years.
