EPISODE 8: THE AWFUL TRUTH
Just when I thought the 2nd quarter of 2011 was supposed to bring us some good fortune, it appears as though life has thrown us yet another curve ball. For those of you who have been keeping track of the story regarding Shelby & Deuce – as promised, I am keeping you in the loop. You’ve all been as much a part of this epic story as we have. Read on and you will be as shocked & surprised as I still am. Let me begin by reviewing some important quotes from my last episode…..
“First & foremost both test results sent by the Mississauga-Oakville Veterinary Clinic & by my good vet Dr. Moondian came back NEGATIVE of any type of disease or congenital disorder. It appeared that I had been sold a healthy puppy. The test results showed extremely high levels of toxicity in Shelby’s blood which basically meant that she had somehow gotten into something that ultimately caused failure to her liver & kidneys. Whether or not Shelby had been poisoned at my home or prior to me receiving her will likely never be known.”
“Overall, I think Debbie is a decent person. I applaud her for stepping up to the plate and compensating us for our loss regardless of her opinion as to what happened to Shelby. As I had mentioned before, I never blamed Debbie for what happened and we had no intentions of pursuing any legal action against her. I only wished that the lines of communication between us were a lot better….. As for her dog breeding, I hope that she takes the right steps to further legitimize her business as a dog breeder. I STILL RECEIVE E-MAILS REGARDING DOGS/ANIMALS IN HER CARE. That being said, it should be noted that nothing has been found that would merit any serious cases against her. I wish her luck and although many of you probably will doubt this, I hope that she has learned as much from this ordeal as I have.”
“I received another friendly, yet anonymous e-mail from someone that had advised that a puppy mill in Bracebridge had been shut down. My interest was again peaked. My mind began to race. I did the best research I could over the weekend and on the following Monday I placed a call to the agencies that had contacted me when my ordeal had first happened. The next day I got a call from the SPCA – the breeder I had been dealing with had no involvement with the recent puppy mill shut down.”
“Now I know you are ALL PROBABLY SUSPICIOUS AS HELL AS YOU READ THIS RIGHT NOW. Trust me. I know. You should know that I know. I called my wife to discuss the curveball we had just been thrown. To make a long story short, the pros outweighed the cons. Test results were negative. The agencies had nothing of substance to report about the breeder. We were being offered compensation for a horrible loss both emotionally & financially. We were even advised by an agency to take the compensation if offered. We decided to take the new pup on the condition that we would treat it with the love and care that we would have given Shelby, however we know that should things go bad we will not even come close to spending what we had spent 5 weeks ago to save it (worst case scenario).”
“Lastly, I sincerely hope that I am not fostering another sick puppy. I made this decision because of my affinity toward dogs. At the very least, I wanted to prove to Shelby that she would have been part of an amazing family -this puppy will experience it for as long as we possibly can.”
It all begins with a distant look. A nervous twitch. A wimper. Then limbs or a head start to twitch. Convulsions. Then erratic behaviour. Finally it stops. The ordeal ends and everything comes back to normal….. until it happens again.
A few years ago, I took in a dog who had been hit by a car one too many times. He lived with my Husky mix & I in a small apartment. I took him in because after the 2nd time he was hit by a vehicle, he almost didn’t make it. He ended up being saved, but he suffered from seizures as a result of the head trauma he had received. I agreed to be the person to foster him because among the short list of people who were qualified and capable of giving this dog the proper care and medication that he needed to live the rest of his life relatively pain free, I was the one who had the most schedule flexibility. There was a chance for this dog to live the remainder of his life with someone who gave him love & attention, as well as a chance for him to have a playmate while I was away. Wesson eventually passed – he started reacting less to the medication and his seizures became worse. I miss him still, but I can definitely say that I had fond memories of him when he was in my care. Wesson was the first dog I had ever put down. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that first feeling….
Last night at 11:50pm, out of nowhere and without warning, Deuce suffered 2 seizures within 5 minutes of each other. I knew immediately what had happened. “Not again….” is what I was thinking. Knowing that epilepsy was common in this breed, my wife and I discussed taking him to Dr. Moondian and having him looked at. Great, we thought. Now we are going to have to medicate him for the rest of his life. We continued with our late night schedule and bathed him (he was dirty from soiling himself a few times over the weekend), after which I dried him off and took him for a walk. He was responsive, walked on the leash and played like his usual self when we got inside. At 12:40am, it happened again, this time more pronounced and aggressive than before – 2 seizures. 2 minutes. Why does this all seem so familiar? I was ready. I called the emergency care and explained the situation. They knew who I was. Deuce started seizing again. This wasn’t a ‘normal’ sign of epilepsy. It was far worse and from that point on I already knew – this puppy was a goner. Once again, I made my way at 1:00 am to the emergency care. Between 12:40-1:30am, Deuce had suffered 11 seizures en route to the hospital. This was bad. REALLY BAD. And once again, I found myself going through another ordeal – ALONE. This time out, I wasn’t a ball of emotions. I was frustrated (infuriated to say the least), tired & drained. I was prepared to do the inevitable. Deuce wasn’t going to make it. I knew this an hour before I got to the hospital.
I arrived at the emergency clinic and was met by a familiar face – one of the good vets that had tried to save Shelby. His staff took Deuce in for an assessment and I went for a much-needed drive to clear my head and make the necessary calls. It was 2:30 in the morning. When I got back to the hospital, the doctor and I had a long discussion. There was no way they would be able to diagnose Deuce’s condition without doing the proper tests. He was given drugs to suppress his seizures (he had 2 more while being assessed). Deuce had now suffered from 15 seizures within 3 hours. Any additional testing would have crippled us financially. The vet and I speculated on the possibilities – juvenile epilepsy, distemper, some sort of immune system or neurological virus. I was advised that epilepsy rarely appears in an 8-10 week old puppy. This was serious. Without hesitation, I decided to once again put a puppy down. I was ready for this. I went in to the room and touched Deuce for the last time. I collected his collar & dog-tag to add to the collection of tags from dogs that I’ve saved (seeing that I am now some sort of dog saviour *cue the sarcasm). I stuck around for a few minutes to chat with the good vet. At 3:00am, I exited the emergency clinic for the last time…. EVER. The last words that Dr. Vasilli Jorga said to me were, “….you are a good man…”
I arrived home close to 4:00am. I woke up this morning and explained to my son that Deuce had gone to dog heaven. Boy was he confused… Am I just a magnet for dead or dying dogs? My son will end up developing a belief that our house was some sort of dog purgatory. It’s sickening actually. All I really wanted was for us to be happy. I find it hard to believe that all this has happened to us. I was always suspicious of getting another puppy, regardless of it being a ‘replacement’ from this breeder (Debbie Pilon, La Doghouse, Bracebridge, Ontario). In my last blog post, I expressed concerns and suspicions that this would happen again, that I would much rather rescue a healthy dog, but I went with the flow. I was ready for it. I was ready. What I wasn’t ready for is how I feel now. I am fuming, not because I allowed myself to get duped. I didn’t. I accepted the terms of the situation and went with the decision we made as a family. I am furious because I now truly believe that this breeder (Debbie Pilon, La Doghouse, Bracebridge, Ontario) is breeding sick animals. This incident confirms it. There isn’t a shadow of a doubt in my mind. Shelby died of an “acute kidney failure” which could have been attributed to anything. One acute and rare incident had all the makings of a losing fight for me. Deuce had a mysterious condition that suddenly affected and destroyed his brain & nervous system. 2 puppies in a row. Both DEAD. So Debbie, are you going to try and tell me I shouldn’t have vaccinated Deuce? Are you going to try and blame it on household cleaners (maybe my organic water & vinegar mix did the trick…)? What will you have to say now? To the OSPCA, do you still need more proof that Debbie Pilon (La Doghouse, Bracebridge, Ontario) is running an unsafe animal operation? I followed your advice and accepted the compensation. Look where it has got me – back to the drawing board.
Today, I didn’t bother contacting Debbie Pilon (La Doghouse, Bracebridge, Ontario). I’m through with this. Unfortunately, I may be through with dogs too – not being a dog lover, but a dog owner. Although I could use the entertainment, I really don’t need the drama anymore. Besides, I don’t feel like being a dog purgatory. No thanks. We’re a good family dammit. A good family. We have a home, we love each other and we work together to make things work. We are a good family. Am I missing something here? This summer I will find a spot in my backyard and bury the tags of my beloved dogs deep underground. I will buy another tree and plant it in that spot, so that something living & vibrant will grow in their memory.
I’ve contacted the OSPCA to give them an update of the situation and spoke with Agent Ryan again. This time, he assured me that something will be done. I’ve faxed over last night’s report on Deuce and will patiently wait. Good luck Agent Ryan. I hope that I have finally given you enough to proceed with whatever investigation you had been carrying out. On the other hand, I don’t think I will wait. The awful truth is that things haven’t gotten better. The awful truth is that there are horrible people out there that are doing horrible things to animals. The awful truth is that we’ve been teased with another amazing puppy – goodbye Deuce, it was nice knowing ya (you had potential). The awful truth is that no matter how hard I try to move on, right now I feel like the “good man” with the worst luck. I need a vacation. Somebody get me outta here……
K.