Rough Weekend

I had a pretty rough weekend, that I am now just getting over. Some people may think it's silly, but I am finally letting things go.

It was one event that knocked me for a loop. Saturday morning was starting out exciting. Little Laurita was going to start her first day as a lifeguard at Waterworld, a huge waterpark in the Denver area. She had to get to work by 9:30. The Wife and I were driving her in, so we could both wish her good luck on her first day. We all hopped into the Jeep Liberty and headed down the road. On 100 Ave, we saw her.

Lying on the far right lane, was a dog. The Wife yelled, and pulled over. We thought she might be dead, but then we saw her head move. I rushed out of the car to check on her. Another gentleman who was walking his dogs rushed over. My daughter also got out of the car to help. I came across the dog first and was horrified. She was laying there on her side with an open wound. The vet latered described it as a degloving injury. I won't go into details, but it was pretty bad. Anyway, I rushed to the car to get a blanket out to cover her up. The gentleman waved other cars over so she would not get hit again. The dog sat up and got her legs. I wrapped the blankets around her. The wife pulled the Jeep bank with the help of the dog-walker, I was able to get the dog in the car. No one got bit, although she was in intense pain. Laurita was freaking out because of the accident. She was also upset because she was going to be late to her first day of work. The Wife had called the police and was trying to reach Laurence Jr. so he could take Laurita to work. (He was still in bed, and his braindid not grasp the severity of the situation. Also, The Wife was yelling quite a bit, so he missed where we were going.) There is a big vet hospital up the road from us. (The Wife actually used to work there part-time.) We rushed the dog to the hospital. I ran inside and got the staff. We unloaded her out of the car and the vets took her. An animal control officer came by and talked to The Wife. The dog did not have tags and we did no know who she belonged to.

Laurence Jr. showed up at the vets, but we ended up taking Laurita to Waterworld anyway.The Wife and I were in a furious mood. Someone had hit that dog and just left her there. It was probably seconds before we had got to the scene. If we had gotten there earlier, we would have chased that driver down. We were incredibly upset.

We found out later in the day that the owners had been found. They were dealling with the extent of their dogs injuries. She was 14 years old. Surgery to fix her would have been too costly and she would most likely not survive it. The owners opted to let her go. They were just waiting for all their family members to show to say goodbye.

Two nights later, after coming home from a birthday dinner at Outbacks, there was a message on the phone. It was the dog's owners. They wanted to know what had happened. I called them back and talked to one of them. She was very upset, but also very grateful that we did what we did. I wanted to do more. I told the lady that I was sure that someplace, there will be a special room for the bastards who hit their dog. I wanted to comfort the lady, but I could not find the way to do it. I also wanted to get off the phone as soon as possible, because I kept seeing their dog behind my eyes; the way I saw her when I first came across her.

It's taken me some time, but I am getting over this weekend. I feel awful for the family's loss. I feel sorry for the dog too. I also want to show whoever hit the poor dog and drove off what a degloving is. OK, maybe I am not as over it as I thought.