Kari- meaning dear, valued, loved.
I’m not even sure how we should begin with this girls story. The truth is we don’t know where she came from or how she lived to end up the way she did, all we know is her humans failed her.
When I first met Kari, I went to see what her temperament was like and to see what vet work we were going to line up, I saw her and my heart broke I had never seen a dog in this condition before. I had to leave her in the pound until the weekend. This absolutely broke my heart, I wanted to take her with me then and there but I had to wait those two excruciatingly long days.
I got up on the morning of Kari’s release holding onto all hope for her. I hoped she would feel safe, that she would feel loved and that she could be saved with all the injuries she carried.
I collected her and she basically burst from her pen, she was happy to be free. After leaving the pound Kari was taken for a lovely warm bath, the first in what must have been a very long time. The bath water ran black and red. Kari had an infestation of fleas, the black was from the dirt trapped in her fur and on her skin, the red was from the wounds she carried all over her body. Despite the obvious pain she was in Kari sat calmly and enjoyed her bath, the cuddles and the blow dry, we made it snow!
Kari then had a big trip to make, the scariest part of her journey… a trip to the vet. This was the part I had been dreading since meeting her. Kari on the other hand took it all in her stride, head out the window the whole trip, enjoying her freedom.
When we walked into the vet clinic I saw the vet start to cry, I had my worst fears confirmed…this beautiful girl I just freed was is in a very bad way. The diagnosis began…
What we originally thought to be blindness wasn’t, Kari had growths on both eyes, one so extreme that while her body tried to heal itself her inner eyelid had fused to the eye, her other eye wasn’t too far off becoming the same.
To repair this she would require minimum 1 year with specialists and numerous surgeries which at approx 13 years old she probably wouldn’t survive the anaesthesia.
Then came her feet, her feet were badly inflamed, toes were splayed and her joints were severly damaged from not being weight bearing correctly.
The vet said she had never seen or heard of a case this severe with out the dog being born with malformations. Kari was not born this way, she was left to become this way, her humans had watched her become this way, they allowed this damage to happen.
This was irreparable.
On top of all this Kari had skin inflammation, numerous growths over her body and quite a few hotspots too. This damage does not happen over night, over a week or over a month… this was years of neglect and years of pain.
Then came the time for a decision to be made, at HAMR we never make any decisions lightly, we make every effort for every dog to be saved but our goal is to ensure the most humane decision is always made. The dogs come first, ALWAYS.
The vet and I sat on the floor crying for this girl, wishing there was another way. The vet advised that there was no chance to even ease Kari’s pain for the whatever time she had left.
We made the excruciating decision to end her suffering, this could possibly have been the only kindness that Kari had been given in many years. She was with me in my arms the whole way, we went and cuddled in a quiet room, she gave me endless kisses while I cried, I feel that she knew, I feel that this was her way of telling me it was ok and thatshe thanked me.
Kari went over the rainbow bridge, peacefully, knowing that even if just for a short time she was loved and that her life mattered.
Rest in peace Kari, you were loved, you were valued and you deserved so much more!
We are sorry that humans failed you.