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SWIVL Awards: Coming Soon

Look for the SWIVL Awards- Respect & Responsibility for 4 - 5 - 6 graders.  Ending animal abuse is the first step to creating safe communities.

Charlie’s Story

On Wednesday, May 6th as I watched our local veterinarian try to save the life of a small feral kitten a woman came into the house with a small white poodle dog in her arms.  I asked if the dog belonged to her and she said, No, this is just a little foundling. I asked the woman what was a foundling.  She replied that is what she calls a dog she finds wandering around in the desert.  As I looked at this dog, I saw sad eyes, extremely long nails, and runny mucus filled eyes.  With my kitten secure, Dr Robinson took the dog from the woman and started to wash his eyes, rinse his ears, trim his nails and clean his raw paw pads.

 

Since we had done everything possible that night for my little feral kitten, it was time to go home and hope for the best.   When I got up to leave, I asked the woman if she was going to keep the dog and she said, No, she wanted to find him a good home.  As I drove home, I remembered someone I knew (Mary) was looking for a small dog.  The only problem was she wanted a female and this little foundling was a male.  But I thought she might be willing to take a male, so arrangements were made for the two of them to meet.

 

When Mary met the little foundling -- magic happened.  She named the little foundling Charlie Brown. Mary took Charlie home and bought him a new doggie bed, took him to the vet to get medicine for his eyes, ears and paws. Charlie had lots of love and attention and a mom who loved him very much.   The two were inseparable.  Each day Charlie was getting better and soon he was well enough to go to the doggie park and play with his friend Dudley and other dogs.   Charlie was happy and loved. 

But one day, Charlie’s unknown health history began to catch up with his new life.  Charlie’s was not responding to his medicine and his eyes began to swell shut.  The vet thought Charlie might be going blind and recommended Charlie’s mom take him to a specialist.  Mary never hesitated, she wanted the best for him and hoped he would get better and once again be able to play with the other dogs at the park.

 

But that did not happen.  Little Charlie got worse and finally could not walk. Mary had to make a decision. She decided to do the compassionate thing and let Charlie go to play with all the dogs in doggie heaven.  

 

Charlie died Tuesday, August 18, 2009.

 

Even though Charlie Brown only lived three short months with his companion mom, he touched the lives of so many ... We all miss you, Charlie and hope that all your pain is gone and you are once again happy.   By Dr. K. Wishnick, SWIVL Executive Director

No Moral Compass

The Mission Statement of the National Football League Coaches Association promotes the . . creation of opportunities for young people to grow, mature and become better citizens of this great country through participation in athletic competition. The Philadelphia Eagles encourages programs that promote the quality of life . . . Reading between the lines, however, NFL owners, coaches, and players are concerned about only one thing: money. The recruitment of Michael Vick by the Philadelphia Eagles with the approval of the NFL Commissioner, clearly shows that the NFL has no moral compass and has no regard for how the youth of America view NFL so-called sports heroes. All that matters for the NFL and its players, coaches, and owners is when the next pay day will be coming.

SWIVL does not believe Vick should be given a second chance, He is a despicable human being and deserves no special treatment. However, if the Philadelphia Eagles -- players and management -- want Vick on their team, they should visit a few animal rescues and shelters and touch the animals that have been abused and watch the documentaries that show how Vick and his ilk treated dogs. This way, the next time players for the Philadelphia Eagles give Vick a high five they will know that they are touching the hands of a person that drowned, hung, and electrocuted innocent dogs.

Saying Goodbye

If you think dogs can survive in the desert, think again. Too often, people dump their dogs in the desert believing that they can easily survive.  The desert is filled with danger: plants, animals, no water, and extreme temperatures.  Yet, everyday, people open their car doors, watch their dogs jump out with glee and drive off. No amount of words or statistics will change this behavior.  Only when, we the people, believe that this form of cruelty should no longer be tolerated will it stop.                              

Saying Goodbye - It was a fluke that we found her.  We had to pull off the road to check the tire.  We had just gone through a pretty bad wash and wanted to make sure there was no damage.  We pulled as far as we could to the right; it was mile marker 10.    I climbed out of my seat and began to check each of the tires.  Both front and back tires looked okay but for some reason I wanted to check the driver-side back tire a little more.   I knelt down to take a closer look.  It was over 100 degrees so I wasn’t much interested in repairing a tire so I hoped for the best.  As I got off my knees something caught my eye.  I studied the distant object not sure what I was seeing.  Although hot, dirty, and certainly tired we decided to move and explore the object.  We moved quickly then slowly and then to a stop.   We both knew what we were seeing.  Its chest was partially open – we could see its ribs.  It looked at peace from one side until we walked around and saw the agony and pain on its partially torn and ripped face.  We could not move as the image started to grow.  Its fur was scattered all around, flies everywhere, and the smell was taking us over.  It’s hard to say how long she had been dead.  She still had a good portion of her fur; she was beautiful.  All we could do was stare and wonder why.  How did she come to this place?  How long was she wandering?  Why would someone leave her alone?  There are no answers for her and we hope she is now safe and happy.  We don’t know why or how we came upon her.  We are just glad we did. 

We buried her and said a few prayers.  We told her she was now safe and that she would soon be with our friend Ari – a dog we had the honor and pleasure of knowing who also had been dumped and tossed aside.  We thought about giving her a name and decided she did not need a human calling.  Rather, as we covered her up, placed the desert dirt and stones on her, we wished her a goodbye.   The human – animal bond is significant and it was never more apparent than on that hot summer day.   We met her, we buried her, and we said goodbye.  She will always be close by and every time we drive down that dusty desert road and pass marker 10 we will look over our shoulder.