By Syeada Manbodh
On October 30, 2005 at 5:30 pm, my friend and I were walking on the seawall we rescued a very sick and injured dog with the saddest pair of eyes. This is his story.
I was given to you when your neighbours dog produced too many of us puppies; you picked me from a litter of 10. Your kids chased me lovingly around the yard and I had so much fun. As I grew older the same neighbours dog gave birth to another set of puppies (they must not have known about spaying and neutering) and you decided to take another new puppy from the litter. I gradually became sick with mange and those mean little red ant-like creatures attacked my skin and gave me no peace a tall.
You no longer had time for me and were only interested in the new puppy and your family. My mange got worse and when I lost most of my hair and my skin got ugly you lost interest in me (I guess you didn’t know about vets!) and started locking me up day and night for fear I might contaminate your family and new puppy.
Some days you even forgot to give me food or water. On a Sunday morning very early, I’ll never forget the day; you said in an angry tone we are going for a walk. You tied a piece of green twine around my neck and pulled me from the small pen. My legs were so stiff I could hardly walk. You dragged me to the seawall, where you used to walk with your children, and then you lifted me up and threw me onto a pile of trash.
My leg hit a sharp rock and I heard a snapping sound. After that I couldn’t walk. I stayed alert and kept looking for your face but you never returned. Many people walked by and those who noticed me quickly turned their heads away. It was getting dark, my whole body hurt, and I was getting weak from lack of food and water. Suddenly 2 ladies appeared. One stopped suddenly and said, “Oh my God, oh my God.” The other looked over and saw me; I could tell she was sad when she called to me in her soft voice. My tail wagged in the excitement of someone finally noticing me and I was so hungry and hoped they had food. They were both shocked by my condition. The white lady said to the other, “Let us go get him some food.” The Indian lady said, “No we can’t leave him there,” and she jumped over the wall and tried to get me to walk but I could not. She told the first lady only a coward would do such a thing and wished that person a life of misery as she gently removed the green twine from my neck. I was so happy when they decided to take me with them. The Indian lady said she would go get her vehicle and the white lady said she would wait on the wall.
I heard the vehicle coming and suddenly the Indian lady came back over the wall to get me. She wrapped my body in a large towel, tied a sling around my neck and put a muzzle over my mouth. The muzzle wasn’t necessary; I would never have tried to bite her. I was just so very happy she came back to rescue me.
She lifted my weak and shaking body over the wall, all the time speaking to me in a gentle and kind voice. She opened a door and placed me inside her vehicle. They stopped by a house where one of the ladies went in, called someone to say she was bringing in a sick dog and came back with some food. I was so hungry I nearly ate the Styrofoam plate. She took pictures of me and I wanted to tell her what a good looker I was in my day. I could see the mange coming off in her vehicle and I knew she had a lot of cleaning to do but I sensed she didn’t mind one little bit.
We got back into her vehicle and drove to a place that protects animals, I heard them call it the GSPCA. There I met another lady with a big smile, she told the ladies to take me to kennel # 29, it was a clean kennel, with a bowl of food and clean water; I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Even though there were a lot of other dogs making loud noises, I had a great sleep that night and was taken care of for the next 3 days. The lady who rescued me came to visit but she couldn’t look me in the eyes. On the 4th day, two men came to my kennel, one put a snare around my neck; I would have followed them anywhere. They took me to the side of my kennel and then I saw a gun. The fear in me was immense but I understood, after all I am injured and sick and a burden to everyone. As he pulled the trigger I let out a little cry. My pain is finally over, I am home at last.
Sad Eyes was euthanized on November 3, 2005. Help us remember him by speaking out against abuse and dumping of animals.
