Veterinarian Refuses Owner's Request To Euthanize Two Healthy Dogs
Sam and Cosmo are two elderly dogs who are living out their final — and best — few years with Eric and Tiffany Dybas in Lockport, Illinois. Just a short while ago, though, the pointer and lab mixes were in their former owner’s care and their future looked bleak.
Unfortunately, that former owner had gotten himself into a circumstance where he was convinced his dogs were no longer useful, and he took them to a veterinarian for a “convenience euthanasia.”
The vet looked over the 10-year-old dogs and couldn’t find anything wrong with them. They were good-natured without any major health issues, and putting them to sleep didn’t sit right with the vet.
The owner wasn’t about to take them back, though, so Penny Emerson with Begin Again Rescue Co. showed up to take the two to a safe haven.
“The owner got a divorce and was moving in with his new girlfriend, who said she was allergic,” she said, according to the NWI Times. “Apparently there was a change in his life plans, and they weren’t a part of that. It was really sad.”
“He wasn’t taking them back that day. He could have left them on the side of the road, who knows. There are some vets who would’ve put them down.”
The dogs seemed to know something was up and were dejected when Emerson picked them up. “We had to make them special food to get them to eat,” Emerson said. “Eventually though, we got them to perk up.”
The two were later transferred to Peoples Animal Welfare Society, where they waited for new owners to spot them and fall in love. They didn’t have to wait too long before Tiffany and Eric discovered them.
“Someone had shared the article and we just lost our Chihuahua, Brutus, in June,” Tiffany Dybas told ABC. “And we had him for 17 years. And it just spoke to me because we just had a senior dog and I couldn’t imagine just dumping him off somewhere.”
“So, just saw the story about the dogs and it just broke our hearts.”
“If you have the room, and have the ability, and you’re willing to take that step and see what you get — it’s not a bad thing,” Eric Dybas said, referring to adopting senior dogs. “There’s plenty out there and they all deserve a chance.”
Emerson hears about her old charges occasionally and is happy to report they are doing well, according to a recent message from Eric Dybas. “He said Cosmo and Sam sleep in the bed with them and have free rein of the house and a nice yard, so they got a happy ending,” she told The New York Times.
Thanks to a vet who saw the potential in Sam and Cosmo, these good old boys should have a nice, comfortable couple of years ahead of them with owners who really care.
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