Rest In Peace My Baby

It has been a terrible week for us in the dog dept. As you have read before, we recently adopted our dog Abby.

She was a puppy mill mommy and was not use to human touch. We adopted her from the Humane Society in hopes of not only allowing me to have another dog but to give her a better life as well.

We were making progress when the ice storm hit. She and Sam were placed in a vet clinic for several days in order to stay warm.

Once we got power we brought them back home. We again were starting to make progress.

Last Thursday, Abby escaped our back yard and was missing for two days. We looked all over and were unable to find her. I had pretty much given up hope but still hoped my Missing Pet posters would help.

I was very upset Friday night because I was missing her and because 16 years earlier, I was losing my beloved Bud (a Cat) due to his being poisoned.

At 7 am, on Saturday, my birthday, we heard the door bell ring and Abby was returned home. I was so excited. What a great birthday present!

On Sunday while we were out getting groceries, we received a call from our neighbors that they had Abby and that she had escaped again. We had really felt that we had patched all the damaged areas on the fence that would have allowed her to get out. Paul found an area that was messed up at the bottom and he saw that Abby's hair was on the fence at that point. He placed a rock in front of that area to prevent any further escapes.

I worked 7-7p on Monday night (New Year's Eve). When I came home, Paul said that Abby wouldn't come to him so she had not been fed. This was not unusual as she was still very timid around others.

I searched in her usual places and decided that maybe she had escaped once again. I finally saw something white over by the fence. Tragically, Abby had been trying to go under the fence and became strangulated when her collar caught on the fence.

New Year's Eve was not what I had wanted it to be. After intense grieving for an hour or so, I sucked it up and played games with the kids and celebrated the end of 2007.

I feel so bad, Abby deserved to have a happy life. I tried to teach her love and loved her for the short period that she was here with us. To her, it seems freedom was more inticing than anything else. I will miss her. She was a great dog, I just wish someone had given her love from early on.