The saddest thing ever

Today, while assisting a local vet, we had to euthenize a beautiful golden lab. NOT because he was sick or mean, but simply because nobody wanted him. I cried so hard and stayed with him the whole time just so that he was not alone when he "went". After I got home I went on the website for pets and found a lady looking to get rid of a dog (the exact description of the one we did this morning) and she said she was giving him a week. Well I spent the rest of the day searching for a home for him. I found someone who was looking for his LOST golden lab (also fitting the decription) and he was pleased that I found one just like his. When I called the lady I swear I felt my heart shatter...she had FOUND this dog and was fostering it for a bit, and I guess she did not want to continue out the week and so she had it dropped at the vet this morning. The LOST dog, turned out to be the FOUND dog that we put to sleep this morning. I do not know how to forgive myself for this. I feel partly responsable because if I would have looked at the site last night, then maybe I could have prevented this HORRIFIC and completely un-necessary death. If only that lady would have waited out the week like she was supposed to.

OH my gosh, thats horrible, you didn't do anything wrong just what was asked of you all, all the what ifs could drive us all crazy. The lady should have perhaps told you all the history of the dog. I know that some vets have a policy that they will not euthanize an animal for no apparent reason like this, had the vet ever seen this pet before, assuming he hasn't, would he not wonder why? Maybe you should talk to the vet, make a policy to avoid problems like this in the future.

This breaks my heart. How could you take a dog you find to the vet to be euthanized? Especially if it is perfectly healthy. There are so many options and rescue avenues you could use before that point. If she didn't wan tthe dog at the very least she could have put an ad on Kijijji or any newspaper and the dog would have found a new home in a heartbeat. What was that woman thinking?

How sad, however, you certainly did nothing wrong. Just think of it this way, at least you stayed with him and he knew nothing but kindness and compassion at the end. If this was my dog, I would get some measure of comfort knowing that, even with such a devestating outcome.

I have been doing some research on laws concerning euthenization and it turns out that the pound was supposed to wait a minimum of three days (NOT including the day the dog was seized) and so I think I will try to get some help to prevent this from happening again. Does anyone have ideas on who I should speak with?

I forgot to mention, the pound had told the lady that they would give the dog a week before putting it down. He picked the dog up on Wednesday and he was put down Thursday morning. The lady felt horrible about it because I contacted her and gave her a little piece of my mind. That was when she explained it to me.