One afternoon, a wet, matted, flea infested, smelly little dog was found laying flat in the road in front of Paw's Place. He had been dumped on the side of the road for us to find. We thought he was dead but when we picked him up, we found an emaciated terrier mix, barely alive. He looked so beaten down that we decided he needed a cute name. Elmo spent the night at Paw's Place eating most of the time. The next day he weighed in, at the Animal Hospital, at only 9 pounds. His back left leg was not working, his spine was curved upward, he didn't have much balance and it took great effort to walk.
He had to be completely shaved to the skin due to the skin dermatitis from fleabites. When I went to pick him up the next day, I didn't recognize Elmo as being the same dog we brought in the day before. Under all that fur, there was only skin and bones. It took him six weeks to begin to put weight back on that little body.
When Elmo came home with me, it was soon obvious that this dog had not lived in a home before. Up came the good rugs and the house was soon setup for his recovery. In a couple of days, Elmo made his best effort to get to the back door to go out but often that effort brought on leaks. This was ok, he was trying. Soon this little crippled dog followed me to every room of the house, he was bonding probably for the first time in his life. Many times I would carry him with me because it was just too hard for him to walk. I put a carpeted ramp down the back steps so Elmo could go on and off the porch without falling.
As Elmo's back pain increased over those weeks, he never tried to bite; he just came over to me for help. He spent about 60 days with me, comfortable with good food and lots of love. He loved his little bed, he loved the home cooked chicken breasts, he loved the rawhide chewies and he especially loved belly rubs. Elmo came to me on Sept 8 and on Oct. 28 we had to put him down due to his unbearable back pain. He told me he just couldn't go on anymore.
I'm so happy that I could give him at least 60 days of love and kindness out of his 9 years of life. Elmo and I had eye contact the entire time when he was being euthanized. I saw how relieved he was to get out of the pain. I saw that he loved me and he saw how much I loved him. Elmo touched my life in such a sweet, kind way and I gave him all the love he so deserved. I find some comfort knowing that Elmo passed on around loving people. I'm glad he didn't die dumped in the road, alone, on that afternoon.
How can people be so cruel?
Nancy Hahn
Volunteer
