Bad Dog No Biscuits

To set up the story: We have two dogs, both Fox Terriers (one miniature and one stocky minature/wire). Since we had recently moved, they'd been living in a smaller pen than they were used to, and have been pining for more space.

On Monday, my father and I finally got permission by the landowner to make a larger pen by fencing off a large chunk of the yard. High quality small bird-netting was a must, due to one of the dogs being a maniac houdini who would get out of anything when presented the opportunity, and when finding herself out would run just for the sake of running. Very far, very fast. Heaps faster than you would imagine for the miniature wombat that she is.

The new pen worked great. She sniffed around searching for anywhere to escape, found none, then proceeded to run around excitedly at her new-found space. It was great to see her so happy.

The next morning, she died from a snakebite.

It was one of the more heart-wrenching things I've ever witnessed. She was constantly running, almost as if trying to escape from the pain. She ran into fences, as if she had lost her sight. Even when she couldn't stand from what seemed like fits, she still ran furiously.

And I feel bad that I couldn't do anything at all to help her - not even put her out of her misery. We drove her to the vet, hoping to ease her pain, arrived at 11:15, then discovered that the vet was out on a call until 11:30. Mere seconds before the vet arrived, she died.

Now, I'm not depressed or anything. Nor, for that matter, am I overly sad about it. What's done is done, and there's nothing to be gained by moping about. I do still have to wonder though: if we hadn't built that larger yard... would she have been bitten at all?

Irony can be a bitch. :tinyted:

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Recognise the title? Today's entry title is from the Cowboy Bebop Original Soundtrack.[/COLOR][/I][/SIZE]