I sob intermittently as I write this. With speaking still beyond me, at least I can write.
Yesterday morning, as I walked Monty along a very quiet road, on leash, a pack of dogs came out of a house and set upon him... I'm not sure how many of the dogs were actually involved, but the owner blames one. The owner, screaming and sobbing, threw himself on Monty to try to protect him and I did my best, but Monty took some serious damage.
The owner and I rushed him to the local emergency vet and they were quite comforting and confident in his recovery... far more than I, but I tend to encompass the negative possibilities in my future expectations. I went back at 4pm, but they were still in surgery, having taken the morning to stabilize him. At 6:00 (closing time), I brought him home, yelping and crying while still deep in anaesthesia, apparently a common event.
I lay beside his unresponsive and noisy form all night, occasionally checking on him when he thrashed about, putting a hand on his back and gently stroking him in hopes it would get through, At 8:20 I checked and he seemed still... and stiff... and gone.
I'm broken...but I will heal in time. I miss my little cuddler, one of the two best dogs I've had, terribly. Furthering the heartbreak is the fact that the owners of the dog pack, a very nice man/wife/young child, are going to lose a big part of THEIR family too, as a killing is an unforgiveable offence even here in FL. And I can certainly see that pack of normally nice dogs getting excited and killing a child or even an adult, so I can't leave it unreported. Shortly, I will go with the owner to help him put his dear dog, the ringleader, to sleep, so he can pet it and say goodbye while it goes...
This is just heartbreaking in every way.
At least Monty brought a lot of joy into many lives and really enjoyed his life with me. Goodbye, my little one.
