31/12/2025
Blacky, Pluto and Fidel.
Back in 2016, we lost a motherless abandoned pup to a horrific incident followed by callousness shown by a very esteemed vet. A couple of days later we found then found Blacky, a new dog in the neighbourhood with burn mark all along the spine( it was an old wound) He was displaced as I knew all the dogs like 5 streets up and down. Blacky found his home in Pluto in ways we hope for. He was madly in love with Pluto, they would play non-stop, sleep together: Velcro puppies in short. He also imprinted on my husband.
I was new to animal welfare, and tried my best to make sure they were introduced on neutral grounds, segregation so the dogs are comfortable and supervision at all times. Blacky attacked Fidel twice and we stopped it as he was going for him. Fidel at that time as we now know was towards the end of his life, he was losing muscle, being hand fed and had cardio myopathy ( most of these revelations were too late- he went into multi organ failure soon after) It was unfair to Fidel and there was no reason to add more stress for him, so we got Blacky adopted with someone who had adopted a few other dogs.
The adoption dint end well, again this was totally where I fell short of not knowing enough, having resources and so on. I did my due diligence with home visits, follow ups and surprise checks but there isnt much that can be warranted for human behaviour. Blacky passed away in 2019, where he was not given the medical attention when he needed it, inspite of him not eating for 3 days. I have since then had this gulp stuck in my throat of what- if I had just done better by him. That’s the thing with what-ifs; you have to buckle up, learn, and bear the burden of the decision no matter what way that went.
To my beloved Blacky, whose memories still put a big fat smile on my face, and a huge wave of sadness because he deserved so much more- if only I could have done better.
