Cloud is gone. I knew it as soon as I saw that his name had been erased off the list of dogs to be walked. The ink smudge of his name was still visible on the white board but I knew he was gone.
I think it was done yesterday. His bloodwork had come back earlier in the week. There was something wrong with him. He'd been urinating large amounts of clear liquid. Every morning his bedding was soaked. So the bloodwork came back and there was something wrong with his adrenal values, something wrong with his liver. Maybe if Cloud were a younger dog, maybe if he were a dog without the issues he had, maybe if there were more people who had shown some interest in adopting him, maybe then more tests would have been done, maybe some diagnosis, some plan ...
TAS had asked around to the other shelters and rescues to see if anyone would take him but no one offered. That's understandable. He wasn't their concern. Everyone's got more than they can handle already. No one wanted the added responsibility of looking after a sick old dog who urinates in his bed every night. I can't fault others for something I didn't offer to do myself.
So, no one is to blame and everyone is to blame.
And I had just recently written someone about how Cloud would be kept in adoption until he was found a home.
The hardest part is knowing that Cloud had finally grown to trust us. That's the thing with these damned lost dogs - they always end up trusting us to do the right thing.
Goodbye Cloud. Now you are away. May you rest well.
Completely heartbroken to read this.
Knowing that they trust us to do the right thing because they are so powerless, then why do we fail them?
Oh Fred, I'm so sorry.
So sorry to hear this. So sorry.
May you rest well, Cloud.
So sad to hear this. I hope someone took some time with him and gave him some love before he passed.
I hadn't checked in with your blog for a few days and now I come back to find...this. Just can't believe it... I'm crying as I'm writing this...I've been following Cloud's story since you started writing about him and I fell in love with him...I felt he was a kindred spirit. I wanted him SO bad.
BUT (there's always a but, isn't there?)...I live in Hamilton, I live in an apartment & I just don't have the extra funds to take care of a dog...especially a sick dog with a bad liver. The last post you wrote about how someone had adopted him & brought him back because he wouldn't go to the bathroom outside & you stressed (and so did the TAS site) that he should go to a home with a backyard so I thought that's it, there's no chance they would let me adopt him anyway. It just breaks my heart...I mean, he wasn't that old (I can't really remember but I think it was 8) and his 'issues' weren't that bad (so he didn't like the outside world...it's not like he was a dangerous or aggressive dog).
I guess you're right though...no one failed him & everyone failed him. The misunderstood ones like Cloud don't stand a chance. Rest in peace, sweet boy.
Sweet little Cloud. A beautifully written tribute, and a reminder to us all to step up just a little bit more.
No one is sadder than I.I am the staff member who looked so forward to walking him every day. I am completely heartbroken but we hold on for so long with no one willing to take an old sick dog. I understand that. He got ALOT of love his last night with us. I made sure to brush him and cuddle him and walk him and love him. I can say for sure that Cloud is resting in peace.
NM
I couldn't bring myself to write before, hence why it's taken me so long. These dogs aren't lost, but abandoned. People are to blame. I have little faith in humanity. It seems animals always pay the price. Imagine if hospitals turned away people because they had some sort of medical/health condition? RIP Cloud.