SAYING GOODBYE TO HOWIE
- Monday, October 29 2012 @ 08:34 pm UTC
- Contributed by: erik
- Views: 1,827
TODAY WE SAID OUR GOODBYES TO HOWIE A BEAUTIFUL AND GENTLE SOUL Today Diane and I said goodbye to Howie. We will mourn his loss as we would loosing any freind and will miss him even though we only knew him a few days. It took him just minutes to win our hearts and the hearts of all he touched.
Howie came to us just last Saturday. He was originally tied to a Home Depot with serious wounds. He was nursed back to health over a few weeks and then was released to rescue. He was an older dog with a great temperament and presence which is why we accepted him in spite of his age. We knew he had issues but we chose to over look them and to take him from the shelter anyway. We left with him on Saturday and proceeded directly to a dog adoption event in Ft Myers. He was great there even though we just picked him up. He trusted us and knew we would do our best for him. There we encountered a young family with four tremendous kids. They, as did we, immediately fall in love with this beautiful animal and asked us if they could adopt him.
You could readily see the love this family had to give and the way they treated and interacted with him won our hearts. We agreed that they could come the following day and see him at our home and then decide if an older dog was right for their family. They spend a few hours with us, primarily with Howie, and fell in love with him. This was probably the best day of Howies life ad one he will remember. He so enjoyed playing ball with te kids and running free in the yard like a puppy.
Loving a dog is an event that comes somewhat instantly and remains forever. We fall in love with dog after dog and we feel a loss when each goes to their new home. We have always prided ourselves in sending home healthy dogs with loving families and Howie was to be no exception.
We took Howie to our Vet this morning 10/29/12 and discovered to our dismay that he had terminal cancer and would not survive for much longer. This was the worst news a rescue can get, especially with an adoptive family ready to take him. There is no worse feeling that one can have than making a decision to say goodbye to a pet. There are times when saying goodbye is the right thing for the pet yet the wrong thing for us. We know that humans can be selfish and prolong the enevitable because of loving their pet and wanting him to be there for them. We have experienced this with our own animals and we have come to know that there is a proper time to say goodbye, and for Howie this was the right time. We chose not to have him suffer, as his disease progressed, and to do the right thing for him while he is not in pain.
This decision was difficult and we will mourn his passing. We do know that he spent these past days in a loving home with us and moreover he spent hours with 5 really tremendous people who loved him as we did. His last days were happy and that is about all anyone can do under these conditions. Howie, rest in peace, you will be in our hearts forever.
Erik and Diane Hoffer
Howie came to us just last Saturday. He was originally tied to a Home Depot with serious wounds. He was nursed back to health over a few weeks and then was released to rescue. He was an older dog with a great temperament and presence which is why we accepted him in spite of his age. We knew he had issues but we chose to over look them and to take him from the shelter anyway. We left with him on Saturday and proceeded directly to a dog adoption event in Ft Myers. He was great there even though we just picked him up. He trusted us and knew we would do our best for him. There we encountered a young family with four tremendous kids. They, as did we, immediately fall in love with this beautiful animal and asked us if they could adopt him.
You could readily see the love this family had to give and the way they treated and interacted with him won our hearts. We agreed that they could come the following day and see him at our home and then decide if an older dog was right for their family. They spend a few hours with us, primarily with Howie, and fell in love with him. This was probably the best day of Howies life ad one he will remember. He so enjoyed playing ball with te kids and running free in the yard like a puppy.
Loving a dog is an event that comes somewhat instantly and remains forever. We fall in love with dog after dog and we feel a loss when each goes to their new home. We have always prided ourselves in sending home healthy dogs with loving families and Howie was to be no exception.
We took Howie to our Vet this morning 10/29/12 and discovered to our dismay that he had terminal cancer and would not survive for much longer. This was the worst news a rescue can get, especially with an adoptive family ready to take him. There is no worse feeling that one can have than making a decision to say goodbye to a pet. There are times when saying goodbye is the right thing for the pet yet the wrong thing for us. We know that humans can be selfish and prolong the enevitable because of loving their pet and wanting him to be there for them. We have experienced this with our own animals and we have come to know that there is a proper time to say goodbye, and for Howie this was the right time. We chose not to have him suffer, as his disease progressed, and to do the right thing for him while he is not in pain.
This decision was difficult and we will mourn his passing. We do know that he spent these past days in a loving home with us and moreover he spent hours with 5 really tremendous people who loved him as we did. His last days were happy and that is about all anyone can do under these conditions. Howie, rest in peace, you will be in our hearts forever.
Erik and Diane Hoffer