Bailey & Guinness

A few years back we had adopted 2 puppies Bailey and Guinness. They were brothers and looked NOTHING alike. Bailey looked like a shepherd and Guinness looked like a Lab, that was their mix. Well one July 4th they had gotten out of the yard, which was not uncommon. They were escape artists. This time was totally my fault. I went out the back gate and thought it had closed but in fact it didn't latch shut so they escaped. They did their usual run, next door to Mary's house then onto the V's house and so on with me chasing them the whole way. I think at one point I saw Bailey smile back at me and give me the doggy finger. Anyway this particular day Mrs. H was in her driveway walking Holly, a 2 1/2 lb. poodle. (Bailey was 105 lbs and Guinness 95 lbs)She was dog sitting for the V family. The 3 dogs got into a scuffle and unfortunately poor Holly passed away later that night. My dogs were never vicious I honestly don't believe in my heart that they meant to hurt her. They had been around other dogs of all different sizes before many times with no incident or even so much as a crooked look but on this day I don't know what happened. While all of this was happening Mrs H reached in the middle of 3 biting dogs and...Surprise! She was bitten.
The rule is if your dog bites someone he must be quarantined for 10 days. As a result of this I was forced to make one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make, and with a very heavy heart I chose to put my dogs up for adoption. I brought them to the shelter for their quarantine but called almost every day to request they be evaluated for adoption. No one ever called back. The 10th day was a Sat so I couldn't call back until that Monday to find out what the step was...still no call back. Tuesday I got a message on my cell while at work "Hi this is Simone from animal control, just wanted to let you know...it's been confirmed. Your dogs were put down" Click.

WTF!!!! Devastated does not even come close to describing how I felt. My kids still think they went to that farm...you know which one I'm talking about.

Fast forward almost 2 years later the door bell rings 1 week before Christmas. We were served. Mrs H. was now suing us for injuries (a dislocated pinkie, and dog bite on her index finger which resulted in her losing her nail, which has since grown back) and mental anguish she sustained. I couldn't believe it. My family and I suffered too. My dogs died too. I still carry the guilt of my negligence and the result of my decision. I live with that every day, they were part of my family and I loved them and they didn't deserve to die and it was my fault they did. My kids lost their pets too and it was Matty's birthday when they were taken to the shelter. Something he still hasn't completely gotten over. That was not enough punishment?

Well today was the culmination of all of it. The end. We went to arbitration and after several years of this hanging over my head, a retired judge decided that this old, frail woman deserved $25,000. I'm sick over it.

Bailey and Guinness, you can finally rest in peace it's finally over. With all my heart and soul I am so sorry. You are very missed and in my thoughts every day.