A few weeks ago, while walking my dogs, Katniss and Matisse, two much larger dogs broke free from their leashes, ran out of their yard and onto the street, right at us. One of them grabbed the baby, Katniss, in her mouth, not letting go while I screamed at her and tried to free my puppy. I ultimately got Katniss away from her, but it was too late. Katniss was wounded and bleeding and in shock. Despite rushing her to the vet, she died in my arms. She was only five months old, but she was sweet and unbelievably cute and had a firecracker of a personality.
While struggling with them, my other dog, Matisse, was bumped around roughly and ended up with two broken ribs. She has since recovered from her injuries, but we're both struggling a bit from PTSD. Matisse isn't sleeping well and I was surprised at the instant prick of fear when my next door neighbor dog barked the other day.
The owners of the dogs who attacked us are heartbroken for us and have been wonderful to me. They took care of Matisse and Katniss' vet bills and have checked in on us to see how we're doing.
This was a horrible, tragic accident. The owner had been playing with the dogs, trying to tire them out for the evening. He was tossing a toy from the back to the front yard and given the size of the toy and the size of Katniss, the dogs made a terrible mistake. They never attempted to bite me during the fray, not even when I pried the dog's teeth apart to get my puppy back. The owners are replacing their electric fence with an actual fence and engaging their dogs in additional training. We all met with the board of selectmen for my town - this was the solution agreed upon by all of us.
When I decided to get my first dog, I made a decision that I wanted a puppy and I wanted a specific breed - Maltese. I did a lot of research and found a responsible and reputable breeder. That was my choice. That said, I support wholeheartedly the mission of Best Friends Animal Society. It's tragic that so many dogs are put down because owners can't be found. When it occurred to me to set up this memorial fundraising page, I immediately decided to support Best Friends. Special thanks to my good friend, Amy, who keeps me informed of their great works and does so much good work for them as well.