Rescue Journal

so i have been thinking a lot about jimmy...

Carol · May 8, 2012

and how this all came to pass...and maybe i am unfair in my judgements.

someone had and cared for jimmy until he was blind, deaf, sick and very old..someone at some point spent a lot of money to extract all of his teeth which i am assuming one or two at a time over the years or all of them together if his mouth was pretty bad.

someone cared for him until his very end.

so what happened?

did he lose his person to death or facility care and did his new caregiver simply not care?

or...did he belong to an elderly person...maybe someone whose income is now very limited and they could no longer afford not only his vet care but also the costs of his passing? or was it already so late on saturday that his vet clinic was closed and the elderly owner in a panic took his old friend to where the spca used to be to get help for his little dog to die at the end.
or was he like many of my elderly clients who past experience in pets passing is..you take them to the nearest shelter and sadly leave them to be humanely euthanized because people just used to do that, death was not something they were comfortable witnessing?

i don't know the ins and outs of what brought that sweet little dog to saints. maybe his owner is deeply grieving the loss of his lifelong companon, maybe his owner is desperately lonely and sad, missing his little old friend.

anyway...i have been thinking about jimmy and how this all came to be and maybe i have been really unfair to both jimmy and his family.
i don't know how or why all of this happened but i do know that jimmy was well cared for for his last couple of days and jimmy was given a peaceful and gentle passing.
i am at peace with it, jimmy is at peace now too..and if his family did the absolute best for him that they could...i hope they are at peace with it too.

jimmy is now ok.

Comments

erin

i have a hard time seeing what you see carol. i see abondonment in jimmys hour of need any way you slice it. END stage renal failure? where were they when it was just beginning? jimmys family should have known exactly what to do and where to go when the time came, had they known there was even a problem.

lynne

sorry alison, it was ashley mcdonald, i think that is her last name who is to email julie about the donation boxes. but thanks for your prompt attention lol

Nancy

Poor little Jimmy, he is at peace now. He was comforted and surrounded by caring people in his last days.

Even though I didn't know him, I thought a lot about him yesterday, and how he came to be at the Surrey Animal Control.
I agree with your thoughts about his previous caregivers (or maybe it's wishful thinking). We live in the South Surrey/White Rock area and there are many, many elderly people living here. Next to Victoria, it has the highest per capita of seniors in Canada. I often wonder what happens to their beloved old pets when these elderly caregivers suddenly have to go into the hospital with a broken hip or something, then end up in long term care. Many of these seniors live alone, who then looks after their furry (and usually old themselves) buddies?
Maybe it was misguided, maybe a relative did take Jimmy to the shelter, but at least they didn't leave him alone. And the shelter took him to Saints, knowing he would get the best palliative care available.

And Saints gave Jimmy dignity and respect and honour when he needed it the most.

Renee

Carol, I posted yesterday but I'm not sure if you saw it. Can Isabelle work for me tomorrow? I have a meeting with an acting agent!

lynne

on another note, alison can you email julie from the plant sale re saints donation box. you can get her email in the events. thanks.

Lynn

Carol - gentle hugs to your confused heart and what a special person you are to see past your grief and pain and wonder who Jimmy has touched in his life.

The seniors are so very special and most importantly, Jimmy passed with loving and oh-so-caring arms around him and being told what a special boy he is. Every living being should be so lucky.

Take good care.

Barbara DeMott

Carol, I love your compassion with this. The most terrible thing is when an animal's companion dies or gets too sick first; my daughter just rescued a big, old cat who was left homeless in a house fire and then adopted by an elderly lady who died in her bed. When they finally found her, the cat had been without food or water for some time. The old lady had tried to help the homeless cat but was too sick herself.