To Stay or Not To Stay
I strongly believe in staying with your baby until they are fully gone – however – I know not everyone is able to do this, and I understand that. This letter was written by Teressa Sisemore to her friends and family and it really touched me. Teressa works at a vet’s office in Texas. I met her on the LyhmphomaHeartDog list and asked her if I could share this story on Niko’s site. It might help you be strong enough to stay with your friend though death.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 4:29 PM
This morning a woman brought her old Pomeranian (named Angel), in to us be euthanized. She said she could not bear to stay with her, and she left fighting back tears. Dr. J was in her last appointment of the morning, so I knew it would be about 20 minutes before she could euthanize Angel. I could not let Angel spend the last 20 or 30 minutes of her life alone, in a cage, in a strange place, so I held her, and walked around with her while talking to her, so she wouldn’t be afraid. When Dr. J finished her appointment and came back to do Angels euthanasia, she asked me if I wanted to hold her or let one of the technicians hold her. I just didn’t feel like it would be fair to Angel to hand her off to someone else, so I held her and talked softly to her as she recieved her injection. As she slowly slipped away, tears streamed down my face. Please don’t think I am being judgmental of people who just can’t bear to watch their pets be euthanized. I so understand how hard it is, but this lady will never know, that what she missed was the gift of being the last comforting voice her pet heard as she fell asleep for the last time. I was the one holding her dog and wispering in her ear as she took her last breath. She will never know how hard it was for me to do that for her dog, who I didn’t even know untill 30 minutes before her life ended. Angels owner has no idea that even now, hours later I’m in tears over her Angel..
