Not a Human(e) Thing To Do

I am an animal lover.

Have been all of my life.

During my twenties and early thirties I was a professional house/pet sitter for my friends who referred me to people they worked with. The business was good because I was a good sitter.

My family has always had pets, all dogs but I equally love cats.

We have a pet named Sebastian. We've had him about 13 years. He came to us when he was pup and we found him wandering the streets, he and a sister. None of the neighbours knew (or would claim to know) who the puppies belonged to so we took them in. The female was given to one of my brother's friends, we kept the male-Sebastian.

Sebastian is a Chow mix (mutt). He never chewed the rug, scratched the wall or any of the things most puppies do. He did however, eat one of my momma's shoes and was severely reprimanded. He never did that again.

When Sebastian turned 7 or 8 he no longer wanted to stay in the house so we would let him outside until he was ready to come in. We didn't worry too much about him because he never went far, just around the neighbourhood.

One day Sebastian, after being teased by a neighbour's son, bit the child on the leg. The Animal Control was promptly called and we paid for the shots and all the other stuff.

About two weeks later Sebastian bit another neighbour, this time a grown man. He was becoming more agressive so my father decided to lock him in the yard. Much to our dismay and my father's irritation, Sebastian learned to dig under the fence to get out.

Then he attacked a postal worker.

The Animal Control gave us two choices: put the dog down or keep him on a designated CHAIN leash. If any add'l complaints were brought against the dog and us, he would be removed and killed. So, to prevent an untimely death and to protect our home insurance, Sebastian was and is chained to a thick, heavy chain whenever he's not in the house.

Last Friday, July 13th, two pit bulls severely attacked and mauled Sebastian. My sister opened the door to find the three dogs going at it and tried to break up the fight. A neighbour (Santos), risking his own health, was nice enough to run over and separate the dogs with a heavy shovel.

After calling and reporting the attack to Animal Control and finding the closest animal hospital, we rushed Sebastian who by this time was bleeding heavily from his nose, back, right fore leg and bottom to the ER.

Four hours and $387 later we brought him home disoriented from the drugs and weak from dehydration.

Tonight, two days later he's still moving slowly and hasn't been able to keep anything in his stomach. I've stopped giving him the pain medication thinking it may be too strong and is causing the upset stomach. He is drinking plenty of water though. I'm scared that he's not eating so I'm thinking of forcing him to drink Ensure. I did get him to take a few sips of Gatorade but that's all.

I'm also going to ask Animal Control to find those animals and kill them.

I know it's not humane. I know that those dogs are somone's beloved animals too. Someone loves them just like I love my dog. Well, their dogs shouldn't be allowed to patrol MY neighbourhood, attacking defenseless animals. If Sebastian has to be chained, WHY AREN'T TWO PIT BULLS CHAINED?

I'm not going to give up on this. If I have to call every morning to Animal Control I will until they can give me some answers as to the whereabouts of those death machines. If I have to lie and tell them two pit bulls almost attacked my child I'll do it because I want them out of the neighbourhood and away from my dog.

I want them dead.

I know it's not humane, but watching my dog bleeding like that, seeing him not eat, having to pay all that money for ER care and probably have to take him in for malnutrition isn't humane either.