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It's not fair....
Dec. 1st, 2001 09:18 pmSo I was at work today, and it was a fairly normal Saturday - busy enough to keep us jogging from one appointment to the next, but not so crazy that we were harried or angry. I had enough time to say hi to my coworkers, and to watch the trained parrot who came in for a wing trim do some very cute tricks. It was actually shaping up to be a nice day.
About halfway through the morning there was a pause between appointments, so I went upstairs to our ICU to see if there was any way I could help the techs on duty. I had been there for a couple of minutes, chatting with one of the other doctors, when a receptionist came flying up calling that there was a greyhound in the parking lot with it's intestines hanging out. So much for the nice day.
So I bolted headlong down the stairs at a pace that, at any other time, would have dumped me on my behind with a broken leg. The other doctor was a hair's breadth behind me, and the techs right behind her. The technicians (sing their praises forever) flew about like Santa's Helpers in scrubs, setting up the anesthesia machines and preparing for triage, while we ran to the parking lot. Another tech (they really are amazing) was out there with a stretcher, helping a rather shocked-looking man coax the greyhound onto a stretcher. A quick look at the dog revealed that it's intestines were all right where they belonged - there weren't any wounds on the abdomen. So I figured it was a panicky mistake, and talked to the owner while we were moving the dog. He had been walking the dog, when a pit bull ran out of nowhere and bit the greyhound. Unprovoked. The pit's owner called out a warning, that the pit would kill other dogs if not stopped, so he knew the dog was dangerous.
By this time we had moved the dog onto the stretcher and into the hospital, so we sent the owner to wait in the lobby and started working on the dog. He was wrapped in a blanket, and all I could see was a scrap of skin hanging from his chest. Just a laceration, I thought. Bad, but not too bad. And then the blanket came off.
I've seen a lot. I'm a strong person. I nearly threw up. There are some things that just aren't meant to be seen. That's why we have skin and muscle and all those nice, safe covering-bits. Oh, gods and monsters, I could almost see his heart. All the skin was gone from his chest, and most of the muscle. Ribs and chunks of muscle and blood and oh, just looking at it was almost enough to make me cry. The other doctor and I had no idea of where to start. How do you put something like that back together?
The other doctors all dropped what they were doing and came to help, but in the end we had to euthanize him. He was in so much pain, he could barely breathe, and the chances of him surviving were abysmal. We did the best we could by giving him the most peaceful, pain-free passing possible, and I wish with all my might that we could have done more.
There aren't enough words in the world to express my rage that this happened. The owner of that pit bull knew he had a dangerous animal. His dog killed this dog. It's not fair that this poor man went for a walk with his dog and wound up witnessing something out of a horror movie. It's not fair that a sweet, loving dog was ripped apart and killed for absolutely no reason. It's not fair that one jerk's machismo created all this pain and suffering. It's not fair that he lied to the police about owning the dog, and it's not fair that the police aren't treating this as the serious crime that it is. I love animals, and I feel sorry for the pit bull - it's not his fault that he was raised by a cruel, small-minded freak, and it's not his fault that he is now by nature a killer, but he needs to be euthanized. One death is enough. Next time it'll be a child.
Owning a killer dog is not cool. It does not make you sexy or macho, it does not prove that you're a Real Man. All it proves is that you're heartless enough to put your own image before the lives of others, and stupid enough to risk your life to prove to yourself that the false image you try to put forth to others is true.
Damnit, that dog shouldn't have died. His owner should not have had to see such a painful thing. It's just not fair.
About halfway through the morning there was a pause between appointments, so I went upstairs to our ICU to see if there was any way I could help the techs on duty. I had been there for a couple of minutes, chatting with one of the other doctors, when a receptionist came flying up calling that there was a greyhound in the parking lot with it's intestines hanging out. So much for the nice day.
So I bolted headlong down the stairs at a pace that, at any other time, would have dumped me on my behind with a broken leg. The other doctor was a hair's breadth behind me, and the techs right behind her. The technicians (sing their praises forever) flew about like Santa's Helpers in scrubs, setting up the anesthesia machines and preparing for triage, while we ran to the parking lot. Another tech (they really are amazing) was out there with a stretcher, helping a rather shocked-looking man coax the greyhound onto a stretcher. A quick look at the dog revealed that it's intestines were all right where they belonged - there weren't any wounds on the abdomen. So I figured it was a panicky mistake, and talked to the owner while we were moving the dog. He had been walking the dog, when a pit bull ran out of nowhere and bit the greyhound. Unprovoked. The pit's owner called out a warning, that the pit would kill other dogs if not stopped, so he knew the dog was dangerous.
By this time we had moved the dog onto the stretcher and into the hospital, so we sent the owner to wait in the lobby and started working on the dog. He was wrapped in a blanket, and all I could see was a scrap of skin hanging from his chest. Just a laceration, I thought. Bad, but not too bad. And then the blanket came off.
I've seen a lot. I'm a strong person. I nearly threw up. There are some things that just aren't meant to be seen. That's why we have skin and muscle and all those nice, safe covering-bits. Oh, gods and monsters, I could almost see his heart. All the skin was gone from his chest, and most of the muscle. Ribs and chunks of muscle and blood and oh, just looking at it was almost enough to make me cry. The other doctor and I had no idea of where to start. How do you put something like that back together?
The other doctors all dropped what they were doing and came to help, but in the end we had to euthanize him. He was in so much pain, he could barely breathe, and the chances of him surviving were abysmal. We did the best we could by giving him the most peaceful, pain-free passing possible, and I wish with all my might that we could have done more.
There aren't enough words in the world to express my rage that this happened. The owner of that pit bull knew he had a dangerous animal. His dog killed this dog. It's not fair that this poor man went for a walk with his dog and wound up witnessing something out of a horror movie. It's not fair that a sweet, loving dog was ripped apart and killed for absolutely no reason. It's not fair that one jerk's machismo created all this pain and suffering. It's not fair that he lied to the police about owning the dog, and it's not fair that the police aren't treating this as the serious crime that it is. I love animals, and I feel sorry for the pit bull - it's not his fault that he was raised by a cruel, small-minded freak, and it's not his fault that he is now by nature a killer, but he needs to be euthanized. One death is enough. Next time it'll be a child.
Owning a killer dog is not cool. It does not make you sexy or macho, it does not prove that you're a Real Man. All it proves is that you're heartless enough to put your own image before the lives of others, and stupid enough to risk your life to prove to yourself that the false image you try to put forth to others is true.
Damnit, that dog shouldn't have died. His owner should not have had to see such a painful thing. It's just not fair.
