Dogs and kids know better.

[Guest guest]

This one stopped me in my tracks. Talk about a thud.

> Animals don't live as long as people!

>

> Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old

Irish

> Wolfhound named Belker.

> The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane

were

all

> very attached to

> Belker and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker and

found

he

> was dying of cancer.

> I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and

offered

to

> perform the euthanasia

> procedure for the old dog in their home.

>

> As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it

would

be

good

> for the

> four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt Shane could

learn

> something from

> the experience.

>

> The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's

family

> surrounded him. Shane

> seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I

wondered

if

he

> understood what was going on.

>

> Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little

boy

seemed

> to accept Belker's

> transition without any difficulty or confusion.

>

> We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud

about

the

> sad fact that animal

> lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening

quietly,

> piped up, " I know why. "

> Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next

stunned

me -

> I'd never heard a

> more comforting explanation.

>

> He said, " Everybody is born so that they can learn how to live a

good

life -

> like loving everybody

> and being nice, right? " The four-year-old continued, " Well, animals

already

> know how to do that,

> so they don't have to stay as long. "

 

 

...............ONS...Tony.