#tw animal death

flesh-n-bonesss:

Got this guy today hoping I could find his other antler. I was unable to locate it and upon further inspection of him, his skull was very broken! I just cut his antler off after that.

Another roadkill fatality but I was too late getting to him to save his meat!

undead-deer:

Something about this month and Button Bucks.

flesh-n-bonesss:

This poor guy met his demise via a fence. Those unique tines got caught in some chain link and he got stuck. We were called out to remove him. What a cool guy!!

   Good grief. In the hustle and hassle of my father’s hospitalization and passing, I have spent LOTS of hours cleaning up his house and virtually NONE cleaning my own. It has . . uh, stated to show. So today I donned my hip waders spent six hours tidying clutter, vacuuming, dusting, and running the washing machine four times. Not that I can call it fully clean, by the way, but it’s definitely improved.

   Then it was off to the MVA for a jolly driving test. Except that, on the way there, we saw a dog get hit and killed by the car in front of us. This ramped my daughter’s stress levels, already high, up even higher. When we arrived at the MVA, a Mean Old Man was stationed at the door to make sure that people have appointments. I call him mean because he amuses himself by telling people that they are on the wrong day for their appointment, and watching them panic. I have run into this asshole before, and was not fooled. I gave him a bit of a look and didn’t play into his ‘joke’. He is mean.

   At the counter is Evelyn. Evelyn told us she couldn’t find my daughter on the appointment list. I reminded her tersely that our name is spelled oddly. Nope, she told us, no appointment. I pulled out my phone, where there was a text from TODAY confirming the date,timeandlocation of the appointment. She suddenly found K in the computer. Thanks, Evelyn.

   The actual test was anticlimactic. Due to Covid restrictions, they can’t have the examiner in the car with the kid. Ergo, they just give the student a few directions, then watch them drive around a small course in a back parking lot.

   Meanwhile, I got a text from the MVA asking me where the heck I was, why wasn’t I in the waiting room. I went inside and told them we had already STARTED THE TEST, why the heck do they want me at the counter? Oh, someone assured me, just ignore that.

   Eye twitching, I went back outside. My daughter pulled back up to the side entrance, the examiner told her she had passed. Yay! Inside, a very nice lady took her photo and stepped her through the process. We will get the actual license in the mail in a week.

   The whole family enjoyed a celebretory dinner at a restaurant, then it was home for fun time mountains of math homework. Son is prepping for his final exam on Friday, Daughter has a set of worksheets for exponential functions. I was hustling back and forth between the two; explaining, correcting, explaining, graphing, explaining, and applauding all progress.

   I. Am. Tired.

no-mercy-bby:

Hey guys, if you can please pray for my dog, we don’t know if he’s just sick or if he is dying but we’re having a family member(veterinarian) come to look at him- just please keep Jack in your thoughts and prayers

Jack passed away early this morning

my cats just ate a fucking rat and its guts are all over the floor what the fuck do i do

[ID: A digital illustration of Laudna from Critical Role. She grins, twisting her head to the right at an unnatural angle while puppeting Pâté with her left hand. Behind her is a black a green background. End description.]

Weirdo

My little mouse friend Pepito has passed away. He was snuggled in his hammock sack not moving, even when I jostled it around. He was just starting to let me hold him and pat him for long periods of time. ):

bedrock-to-buildheight:

From the Wikipedia page on loons

Scant hours ago… a murder! The victim? A squirrel. The suspects? An Australian Shepherd, an Aussie mix, and a Golden Retriever. Obviously, a through investigation is required to catch the canine killer.

The Crime

At approximately 4:30 PM today I heard a commotion – snarling and growling coming from the utility room. I left work to investigate and discovered Candy and Bailey standing over the body of the victim, a grey squirrel.

I don’t recall where Layla was in this moment, but she soon appeared and I shut the three dogs into the back of the house and away from the crime scene. Important fact: The utility room contains the dog door and thus yard access.

I called for help with crime scene and told the investigator/body disposal crew (AKA my dad) that I believed Candy had killed the squirrel. Why did I think Candy was the culprit? Time to examine our suspects.

Suspect #1: Layla

Let’s start with Layla, seemingly the easiest to rule out as she was not present when the body was discovered. Sweet, anxious Layla. Deathly afraid of lawn mowers, very licky and refuses to get her paws wet. Beloved by the community and a star at doggie daycare.

But while her family might say she wouldn’t hurt a fly… the night before the murder she was seen attempting exactly that. And recently Layla displayed a strange change in character at the dog park.

Layla, who runs inside when she sees a hose, waded straight into a mud puddle. Could the taste of dog park rebellion have led to a taste for murder? 

Suspect #2: Bailey

Onto our second suspect, Bailey, the youngest of the canine crew. Part Australian Sheperd, part Bernese Mountain Dog/Great Pyrenees/Border Collie, Bailey is 100% a trouble maker.

Her motive is obvious – she has an obsession with squirrels. And she’s previously joined Candy in stalking a local family of possums.

Could her squirrel obsession have turned deadly?

On my phone call with the investigator, he argued for Bailey (who is his darling and not nearly as good at Frisbee as he claims) as a potential suspect. Could she finally have caught what she chased?

Suspect #3 Candy

Finally, there’s Candy, the 12 year old golden, widely considered the most likely suspect. Although elderly, her vet has stated she’s in great physical condition. She’s undoubtedly capable of pulling off the crime.

Whats more, Candy has a history of such crimes. She’s previously been convicted of possum murder, in a clear-cut case. Nicknamed “the crocodile” for her grouchy demeanor, she spent three months behind doggie gates after biting the puppy, Bailey.

Although she’s grown used to the Australian Shepherds that have overtaken her home, could she have found an easier target for her dissatisfaction? A target like… a squirrel?

The Evidence

While on the phone with the investigator, he reminded me of a crucial fact: the crime may have been captured on security camera footage. The suspects and I waited for his arrival and for the shocking twist the footage would reveal.

The investigator arrived, and we sat down to review the footage. It starts with a frantic chase, led by the least likely suspect, Layla! 

The squirrel dashes across the back deck, with Layla and Bailey in hot pursuit. They chase the victim into a blind spot.

The squirrel makes a bid for freedom, darting out of the blind spot and into the crevice between the fence and a pot. Unfortunately for the victim, Layla is mostly fluff and not as nearly as big as she looks. She was more than capable of following the squirrel’s path.

Bailey followed more slowly on Layla’s heels, having a moment of confusion where she attempts to belly crawl under the compost barrel (why did she think that was the fastest path?).

Layla has the victim cornered, but the flowerpot blocks the camera’s view of the events. Bailey manages to get to the other side of the flower pot. Is Bailey a bystander? Or an accomplish? Either way, she seems confused. 

AND THEN. Candy arrives on the scene just as the squirrel escapes from behind the flower pot. The squirrel heads back into the blind spot, Layla in hot pursuit. Candy is on Layla’s heels.

The golden retriever, the Australian Shepherd, and the victim enter the blind spot. The Aussie mix still waits by the flower pot, rather slow on the uptake.

Moments later, Candy exists the blind spot, carrying the corpse through the dog door into the utility room. Layla follows, then Bailey. After that, the evidence runs out. We have no way of knowing who dealt the final blow.

Who was the culprit?

Was it “the crocodile” Candy? Or sweet, “princess” Layla? Either way, Layla was clearly crucial in the execution of the crime. She might not have dealt the final blow, but she at the least carries culpability for trapping the victim. And how innocent is Bailey, really?

Would the victim been able to escape if Bailey hadn’t (inadvertently?) blocked the way. There might be only one canine killer… but all three were involved in this criminal conspiracy.

The squirrel’s now been disposed of, the criminals restored to freedom after their half hour of imprisonment. Layla licked my knee while I was typing this. And my mother says all three dogs are getting a bath tomorrow.

deadenbytrash:

My lovely rat Stu passed away at 3am this morning via compassionate euthanasia. /srs

My heart is broken all over, but of course the little jokester had to pass on April Fools.

I hope he’s doing well wherever he is.

When a new churchyard was opened it was believed that the first person buried there had to guard it against the Devil. In order to prevent a human soul from having to perform such a duty a black dog was buried in the north part of the churchyard as a substitute. This churchyard vigil was known as the faire chlaidh or “graveyard watch”.

-Church Grim, Wikipedia

breaking news: local spooky undead dog Is A Good Boy

CW for discussion of animal death.

So. The dog killed a bird yesterday.

I spent most of today processing it in the background, because it was something I wasn’t prepared for. I’ve always been honest with myself about the fact that we can’t have any small pets that he could gain access to, because he is not safe to have around them. I would not leave him unsupervised with a small dog. I still wasn’t really prepared for it to happen, because I thought that it was in my control to avoid those things.

This was one of those situations that very much cannot be properly controlled for. We run him off leash in a fenced in area, after dark to limit the chance of an unseen pet running into him, with rescue treats on hand. He has a harness that I can carry him by if necessary, and is trained to associate that with high value treats. He considers it one of the tricks he does for fun.

He’s even sensitive to correction from other animals. Being hissed at by the neighbour’s cats when he saw them made him unwilling to try and play with them.

None of that can really protect against him being out of sight for fifteen seconds, and immediately finding a small and fairly injured fluffy thing that makes the BEST noises when he slaps it.

Sometimes rescue treats aren’t good enough, and by the time I’d gotten close enough he’d already begun resource guarding. We’ve been working at that, and on his recall. More work still clearly needed, but it’s pretty fucking hard to trade for an entire bird when what you have to offer is just a dog treat, no matter how nice the treat is.

Anyway. It was not a good time. Athos had to front because he was the only person who could be calm for that situation, and panicking was only hyping the dog up further when he’d already gone far past threshold. He’s been known to try and swallow forbidden food whole if he feels it’s being threatened, and we really needed for that not to happen.

Rouke came out with the highest value rescue treats we had. We got him back on leash and continued the walk after disposing of the bird. We’ve been keeping an eye on him to make sure that whatever had the bird grounded and unable to get away wasn’t something that can make him sick.

It helped to know that there are a lot of foxes in that park. They like to tease the dog. It’s why he only runs in the fenced area; the bars will let a fox through, but not him. The idea was always that he was the only thing in that park that couldn’t leave at will. But it also meant that the bird would have died no matter what. It was just a matter of when that night it happened.

Anyway. The main point to this post was. Well, partly to put it in a different perspective from total panic. Recontextualise it a day later with a clearer mind.

The other main point was that this is normal. It was a bad experience, but it doesn’t make him a bad dog. It wasn’t a major failure of training or management. It was a situation that was fairly impossible to preempt, and which was dealt with as best we could manage.

Dogs kill small animals. It’s a large part of why we bred a good number of them. He’s a working line dog, and just because he lives in a city it doesn’t change the fact that many of his siblings are working as hunting dogs. The traits which make him an effective assistance dog when he’s on duty make him a risk to small animals, because focus and drive and food motivation are a double edged sword.

It’s not just him, though. It’s more of a risk for him, which is why we’re careful, and why this has only happened once in over three years. This is the only animal he has ever hurt.

A lot of people are not so careful, and the results are similar. The dog is fine, tolerates other animals reasonably enough, until the conditions are right and things go wrong. In those cases it’s often another pet. One which the dog has coexisted peaceably or happily enough with. Until something hit just right: the cat ran past it at the wrong time or it wasn’t careful when playing, and… yeah.

It’s not a bad dog. It’s a management issue in a lot of cases. A dog being set up to fail. But despite the best management in the world, there will always be unforseen circumstances. So I guess this was to raise awareness, because this… Happens. It’s horrible, but it happens. All we can do is manage it when it does.

munwave: