Misha is fit to sterilise and Benji the Collie too

Well there are good, happy & fun things that happen when you work with dogs and then there are extremely sad times.

Today I visited "Baan Ma kap Maew" veterinary clinic, bringing 5 doggy's along for sterilisation. Misha has now finally recovered from her Heartworm treatment and her long period of 'heat' has finished so today the vets did a final analysis of her blood & Xray of her heart and following a positive conclusion, she was sterilised.

Also on the list today were Chok, Kam, Daeng & Benji. I have not written about Benji here before but he is the Collie that was brought to the shelter entrance by his owner a few weeks ago and officially dumped, being thrust into the hands of the shelter caretaker and then riding away on his bike.

Benji, it turns out has contact dermatitis and has skin rashes all over his back. We have been trying to keep these wounds clean and dry but that is near on impossible with a guy who likes to swim in the pond, so although he is actually black & white, most days he has a touch of brown about him too! They are showing signs of improvement though.( Earlier photos of Benji)

Anyway, when I visited the clinic this evening to collect them, there was a family huddled around a large Golden Retriever on the inspection table in one of the cubicles.

It was quite obvious from the faces that the doggy was not well and I could also see the Dr crying as she attended to him. Everyone was holding him and stroking him, talking to him and I could see his head rising to take in his surroundings. I could see they were saying goodbye and when his breathing calmed and his body ceased to move, the family just looked at their boy and cried, for he had gone.

By this time I was in a position to leave, with all my 5 loaded on the truck. I stopped to express my sadness for their loss to a man who stood in the shadows of the entrance, hiding his tears and trying hard to fight off the emotion of the occasion and the families distress. We talked about Mharx and his long 13 years of life and what a wonderful companion for the family he had been. He then asked me about my dogs and I explained the background. I passed on my card and bid him farewell.

I was halfway back to the shelter when I received a call from the bereaved family to ask if I knew of a suitable place to bury Mharx. After a long discussion and a return trip, I picked him up and took him to the shelter. There is a pleasant spot across the road from the shelter, in a Lamyai (Longan fruit) & Banana orchard and tonight under the cover of darkness, with torch in hand & several litres of water to loosen the parched and solid soil, the caretaker Kh Yom buried Mharx.