This weekend Master's parents were out of town, so as soon as my shift ended on Black Friday, it was off to Master's place for a nice relaxing weekend. Friday went by rather fast, but by the time I got back to Master's place, my whole body ached, and my legs and feet were feeling the worst of it. Luckily for me, Master loves to pamper me from time to time, so I had a nice surprise waiting for me. Master had prepared peppermint massaging oil for me, so once I got out of the shower, it was massage time. Turns out, Master had been reading the same book that I bought for our anniversary.
I'm so lucky. ^.^
Master worked my body over with warm oil, all the while we were listening to a play list I made a few days prior that was meant for this sort of thing. Nothing but peaceful music in the air, the scent of peppermint and green tea lightly scenting the room, and to top it off, the room was also dimly lit. Quite romantic, really. Within minutes, I was starting to feel relaxed and the tension slowly drifted out of my body with each loving stroke of Master's hands. Needless to say, it was very relaxing.
The night ended with us trying out our brand new glass dildo of the icicles collection. It definitely gave some interesting and neat sensations, and of course, I just had to indulge in Master's cock. ^.^ Some passionate sex was had, and after cleaning ourselves up, we fell asleep almost immediately. The rest of the weekend was pretty laid back. We played some video games on the N-64 with one of His friends last night, and we got to bed kind of early. I was just so worn out from Friday.
This morning we woke up around 10:30 and I got a shower in first thing.
This evening took a turn for the worst, though. As I had mentioned not too long ago, Moose has been biting us again, and even bit me a couple weeks ago. To top it off, he tried biting me just a few days ago, completely unprovoked, and not much really happened after that.
During the weekend, we kept Moose in the front room where he had plenty of room to move around in there, and lounge on either of his two doggy beds. We'd let him out to use the bathroom a few times during the day, and Master would let him into the front room so he could be fed his food. The main reason we kept him away from us was to avoid getting bitten.
Well.. all was dandy and fine when Master's parents came back home. Everyone had a safe trip and what-not, and Master's mothers' brother stopped by with his wife, and their granny. Moose was excited to see everyone and it seemed like everything was fine.
Then, after Moose was put in the living room to keep from him getting under everyone's feet, he started barking. Clearly it was getting close to food time, but seeing as there were guests, Master's mom wanted to wait till they left so he could get calmed down and then feed him dinner. Instead, she asked Master to feed him a raw hide to tie him over for a little bit.
This is where everything went from "okay" to "really bad".
Over a quick current of event's, Master was trying to step over Moose, to keep Kerry (their other dog) from stealing Mooses raw hide from him. Keep in mind, Master never touched Moose, but instead was stepping OVER him, and suddenly he just lashes out at Master, trying to bite at his feet and ankles. Master tries pushing Moose away from him, and in the process, Moose latched onto Master's hand and was shaking His hand violently, as if he were trying to tear His hand right off His arm. This is when Master's dad came in, and literally had to pry Moose off Master and kicked him across the room and locked him outside.
After I doctored up Master's hand, I guess Master and His dad briefly spoke in which Master was told that Moose was getting euthanized tomorrow afternoon. Basically His dad was just like "How many times do we have to keep getting bitten by this dog? I'm getting sick of it." Typically, he is a very calm and peaceful person, but as many times as everyone has been bit in this house, including myself, he is just getting tired of it. No one else will take this dog in, because of his history of biting, and he is slowly getting more and more aggressive over the months. His eye sight is getting bad, he can barely hear. The only other choice would be to put him in a shelter, but they'll end up putting him to sleep there anyways, cause he'll still be biting people and he's so old.
No one wants to do it, and it's understandable, but honestly, I think it is something that has to be done. I am sorry for Master's mother, who is taking it the worst. She's spent most of the evening crying, which is to be expected.
Well, scratch that, it may be a few days before the dog gets put down. I just got word from Master a few moments ago...
Honestly.. this is going to sound really mean, but I'm kind of.. at peace with the idea. I feel bad for Master and His parents, but I feel no remorse for the dog. He bit my Master, completely unprovoked in any way, and he's tried biting me this week completely unprovoked as well. In fact, when he actually did bite me a few weeks ago, that was unprovoked as well.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that dog is a beast, and a monster. I don't really like the dog, and I probably never will. Is it sad that it has come to this? Very. It saddens me a little bit to know that by the end of this week, Moose will no longer be with us, but once everyone is over being sad, this place will be a lot calmer, and no one will have to live in fear of whether or not someone is going to get bitten today or not.
Frankly, I'm sick of it, and I've been talking to Master lately of not coming over anymore until the dog were to pass away. I guess the good part is that I won't have to do that.. but... it's not really under the best circumstances. I know that Master's father is not happy about this. No one really wants this to happen, but honestly it's for the best. It's the only other option because they can't have Moose biting another family. As I said before, no one is really going to be willing to take a vicious dog into their home, knowing he is prone to biting, now, completely unprovoked. There is really no other option...
I don't know, though. I'm really indifferent to the situation. I'll probably cry when he goes, but not because he is going, but because Master and His parents will be hurting, and I hate seeing the people I love hurt.
I really don't know when it's going to happen... but the chances of him being gone before the week is up is very high. It's sad to say, but I'm kind of hopeful. I'm sure some of my readers will be pissed with me, saying I'm cruel, but honestly, after seeing what I've seen, dealing with the emotional stress, and fear of getting bitten every single day. Trust me, it wears a person down after a while, and things just get uglier. This really is the best for all of us, including the dog.
~*~Anastassia~*~
WARNING, ethical essay. Read at your own risk.
ReplyDeleteHere's where I put on a hat that I haven't for quite a while. *takes off of shelf and dusts off*
As per my training, I take the standpoint of the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) when it comes to ethics - hell, I took an oath to them before wandering over to a completely different neck of the woods in laboratory science. Nope, I'm not a qualified practitioner in Veterinary Medicine, I happen to have a BS in the Pre-professional field (another ethical point I have to make as per the code) If it helps calm down the raving, rabies induced madness (yes, haha, vet humor), I'll give the version that I was sworn to follow upon entrance to the field. If you'd like to read the documents I cite in full (or the excerpts pertaining to what I say) I can hand them over. Let me know.
On to the ethics!
We follow a code of Animal Welfare (not Animal Rights. You say that in that world and you're immediately blacklisted). What that means is, we follow ethical considerations with the bent of 'it must be for the benefit of many, not the few'.
From the AVMA - "Animal welfare means how an animal is coping with the conditions in which it lives. An animal is in a good state of welfare if (as indicated by scientific evidence) it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour, and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter. Animal welfare refers to the state of the animal; the treatment that an animal receives is covered by other terms such as animal care, animal husbandry, and humane treatment. Protecting an animal's welfare means providing for its physical and mental needs.
Ensuring animal welfare is a human responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.
There are numerous perspectives on animal welfare that are influenced by a person's values and experiences. There are also various means of measuring animal welfare, including (but not limited to) health, productivity, behavior, and physiological responses."
Basically, we ethically have a responsibility to minimize pain, stress, and suffering. This is up to and includes the point of humane euthanasia.
"Animals shall be treated with respect and dignity throughout their lives and, when necessary, provided a humane death."
Now, when is 'necessary' and who on earth chooses that little gem? We follow the Principals of Veterinary Ethics supplied by the AVMA.
"The choice of treatments or animal care should not be influenced by considerations other than the needs of the patient, the welfare of the client, and the safety of the public." (V: Influences on Judgement, A)
Ok, so.... the judgment is ethically valid if we see issues in: 1. the needs of the patient. 2. the welfare of the client. 3. the safety of the public. AND there are issues involved which connect with the welfare statement made above.
Now we delve a bit deeper into your specific problem. So, you have this companion animal that is geriatric, has lost some prime sensory input (lack of hearing and sight) and has become what we call a 'red case' (unusually vicious in seemingly unprovoked circumstances). What I see going on here:
ReplyDelete1. Lack of sensory input in later stages of life are difficult on an animal and cause a huge amount of stress because it can not function at the level that it had for how many years prior (this causes some vicious behavior) [ethical point - welfare. Minimizing pain, stress, and suffering]
2. Human involvement. Because of these lack of sensory cues, it becomes a fight or flight response - everything that the animal can't sense until it's right up on it is a threat. Sometimes this manifests as vicious behavior because flight isn't an option with sensory inhibition. [ethical point - welfare and judgment jurisdiction. Not only is this suffering, but it's also a threat to the public and the client]
3. Outside of the actual ethics, the majority of clients that I've seen with this type of behavior worsening over time (and with the other factors involved) have usually come back from necropsy (non-human form of autopsy) with brain tumors. Sizable ones. Aka, not only is it primal instinct driving problems, but brain chemistry due to other issues.
Long post short - If there's a problem where there's an issue with the dog where there's a question to the welfare (as defined) of the animal and the public safety (including yourselves), we highly suggest humane euthanasia because it might be one of the better options ethically.
AVMA hat off - I'm still sorry for the family though. It might be ethical, but it doesn't make it any easier.
Wow, that was quite a read. o.o;
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, yeah, it's about as ethical as one can get, but no, this is not an easy thing. The dog is as much of a danger to itself, as it is to the rest of us, and anyone else that comes through that house.
The way I see it, Master and His family has given this dog the last couple of years the best life possible. He's been pampered, loved, and so forth, and this sort of thing only gets worse. At first, the biting was provoked before hand (accidentally bumped into his side or back with foot. NOT kicked, but bumped into. Trying to take away food, etc, etc.), but as of recently he has been biting just.. well it seems just to bite.
Granted, I'm sure there are some underlying issues, but due to lack of hearing and sight, as you said above, the dog is now confused, which rises the stress level of the dog, therefore, he is more prone to attacking.
I really wish I could say that this isn't "fair" or that there is no justifying it, but seeing as this dog is only going to get worse from here on out.. it's better to do it now, before someone really gets hurt, and worse than a bite. =/
A-yup. Quite a read indeed. BUT - I'm attempting to quell the on rush of people that will jump down your throat due to ethics and morals of their own (justified, although sometimes misguided). Me, I understand (long post of doom). But, from a professional standpoint - your ethics and feelings are spot on. =)
ReplyDeleteHence the essay.
I appreciate it, fore sure. Thank you.
ReplyDelete