A dog's life...

Yesterday, I read the following post by Paulo Coelho on my Facebook: 

"Life is too short, or too long, for me to allow myself the luxury of living it badly."

And that is the truth, so we'd better take Mr. Coelho's advice seriously. One thing that strikes me is that animals live their life fully, and - provided they have a good life - they seem to enjoy each and every moment of their life. That counts for Chico as well as for Xera, my sister's and brother-in-law's dog. But unfortunately, these are her last days...Next week, they'll probably put her down, and that is really sad...

Xera is a labrador retriever with a pedigree, and she's almost 14 years old. But unfortunately, she'll never reach that age. It will stop at 13 and a little bit more. The first time I met her, she was just a few weeks old, and I remember that moment vividly. She staggered on her tiny legs and came towards me to sit in my lap. That was really special, you could call it quality time, because I'll never forget that moment. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from Xera when she was just a puppy, because I bought my first camera when she was about 3 years old. Wasn't she lovely?

Xera is not just another cute labrador. When she was almost two years old, she went to Turkey, which had suffered a serious earthquake that took thousands of lives - more than 17,000 to be precise, with an even larger amount of seriously injured people. That must have been in August 1999. Xera was trained as a rescue dog and found 4 or 5 persons who were still alive under the debris. She also found lots of dead people. Anyway, it was an outstanding performance, especially because she was still so young. My brother-in-law appeared on the news and in the Belgian newspapers with his Xera, and I was so proud of both of them. 

As you probably know, I've always loved animals, dogs in particular, but my parents didn't allow me to have one. So when my brother-in-law finally saw his dream come true when he got Xera, mine also partly came true. I've loved Xera from the moment we met. When she looks at you with those gorgeous labrador eyes, you immediately fall in love with her. But her days are numbered, and the next few days will be extremely difficult, not in the least for my two nieces who've known their Xera all their lives and who will love her forever. When they heard that their favourite pet would have to be put down, they broke out in tears, both of them. Especially the oldest one, Indra, is very attached to her Xera. Just a few months ago she was so proud to take Xera with her to class to tell about what Xera had achieved in Turkey so many years ago. But since then, Xera's health has seriously deteriorated. 

Indra and her two best friends, Indra and Kyana

Two weeks ago, I was in Belgium with my family, and I knew I'd probably spend my last moments with Xera, so I took my time to say goodbye to such a true and loyal friend. Although she wasn't mine, her presence has been so familiar for the last 13 years. So it was difficult to say goodbye, but now, I'll have to let her go...

  
This is one of the pictures I took two weeks ago. As I'm writing this, tiny little tears are running down my face. I never thought this would affect me so badly, but I'm really going to miss her. However, I see that this animal is suffering. Not only is she completely deaf and partly blind, she also has difficulties with walking. So rational Debbie is telling herself that Xera's better off when she's freed from the miserable life and the pain she has right now. But my heart says something completely different because I'd like to share one more moment with her, just one more. I want to make her feel my love for her. But that moment will never come. It's too late for that now... I only hope God also has a heaven for dogs, because that is where Xera belongs, that's for sure. 

RIP Xera, 29/5/2012

PS: I was about to finish this post when something sprung to mind. It's so natural for a vet and for people in general to put an animal down, and people have little or no problems with the fact that this opportunity is available for animals. I have to agree with them. I think that, however it's a tough decision, you should act in such a way that the animal doesn't suffer, when the time has come. But now I would like to add a critical note. Why make so many people such a fuss about euthanasia? Why is it in the case of human beings an ethical issue? Why does the taboo about euthanasia exist, even still today? I think people should have the right to decide about their own lives and consequently also about their own deaths. But maybe I should write about this topic in another post, because if I'm not mistaken, every religion has problems to deal with the idea of euthanasia. And I think that's unfair.

So maybe you're one of those who are strongly opposed to euthanasia. Or you think there actually really is a difference between human beings and animals when it comes to life and death. Or... Try to convince me that I'm wrong, but remember two rules: rule 1: I'm always right. Rule 2: When I'm not right, then you'll have to apply rule one ;) No, just joking, I'll be happy to read your comments, as always.