Pet Safety - A True Story and an Important Lesson

This article is coming to you from Belmont 4-H's newest Safety Officer, Marina.  A member of the Dogs project, she's learned about Dog Care, Grooming, Dog Breeds, Important items to pack in Pet earthquake and Travel Kits, Anatomy and more.  But a recent life experience that brought her to the Vet taught her a very important lesson, which for your pet's safety's sake, we're sharing her story with a larger audience.

"There is a lot of responsibility in owning a dog.  What I find most hard is making sure they are safe.  Four years my dog Leah has been chasing squirrel after squirrel. I should have stopped this behavior but I thought it was funny until one day she went too far.  One day we came home to find my favorite dog Leah and a squirrel lying on the back deck - dead. Its tail was ripped to shreds and parts of it lying across the yard.  I wondered how this could've happened. I called my dog Leah to find her bleeding and limping. I rushed to my dog as quick as possible. I knew that squirrel didn't give up without a fight.  We rushed her over to the Belmont pet hospital and doctors thought talking and talking with my dad was more important than fixing her.  I was like, excuse me, we got to help this dog.  The vet took her temperature and then looked at her bloody Paw. The  Dr. said there are three things we need to do, stitch up her leg and her mouth and then give her antibiotics to keep the bacteria from the squirrel spreading in her blood.  She was in lots of pain so they gave her a painkiller as well.  Then they gave her an anti-inflammatory to stop the swelling.  The more they stuck needles in her, and the More she screamed, the more I wished I had never let her chase squirrels.  I learned that it's hard keeping our pets safe.  Don't let your pets chase wild animals because there will be consequences."

By Marina Chaudoir
May 13, 2014