REMEMBRANCE OF A LIFE LIVED by Robin Dorman (warning intense dog rescue in Korea)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.idausa.org/remembrance-life-lived/





October 1st, 2014 by Robin Dorman

This is about love, loss, and a brave and beautiful dog with a nearly imperturbable calm who transfigured lives. It was this past January when we first spotted her lying on concrete, sprinkled with falling snow, in an area of the market that was strewn with garbage left to rot, as she was, possibly a day or two before she would have met her fate in the large vat right behind her, where during slaughter, dogs are thrown into boiling water. They are then dropped into a rotating drum, like the one located just above where she lay, for the removal of fur, and finally blowtorched, often while still alive, destined to be dog meat stew or “boshintang” or dog broth or “gaesoju” from a so-called health food store. She was motionless, her eyes staring out in a quiet despair, a sick dog’s look. We reached out to stroke her. Because she was not locked in a cage, we took off with her to Seoul Animal Medical Center, where Dr. Jeffrey Suh, surgical team leader, was waiting. It was after 2 a.m. and we were hoping for a miracle. We named the Jindo mix, Somang, meaning “wish” in Korean.

We didn’t know her past but callous desertion was evident, as she was indelibly marked by misfortune. Hit by a car, she was probably then dumped at Moran Market, South Korea’s largest distributor of dog meat for human consumption. If we hadn’t taken her, we have no idea how many days she would have lived, if one more day, either because of dehydration or because she would have been killed that morning. But we also entertained the idea that she was someone’s companion because of her astonishing gentleness and, therefore, could have been abducted or, because of the accident, suddenly abandoned. It’s anyone’s guess. But the decision to save her was an easy one. She wanted to live, despite being worn out by afflictions. She was a luminous presence everyone felt like a nimbus.

As Dr. Suh explained it, she was suffering from a fractured femur of the right hind limb, heartworm infection, mild dehydration, a mass on her mammary glands and on her vulvar area, endometrial hyperplasia on her uterus, weakened kidneys, and a cyst on her liver, but her blood work was normal, aside from malnutrition. She also had disc anomalies on multiple areas of her lower vertebrates but, again, there was no hampering her ability to walk.

The first order of business was diminishing the adverse effect of heartworm treatment, and allowing her time to recover from dehydration and malnutrition. On intravenous fluids, and gaining strength, her broken leg was amputated, and she recuperated beautifully. Ten days after surgery, she began her heartworm treatment, which can be very uncomfortable, but she handled it with her usual ease. She received three injections, a week apart, and an intravenous injection of a steroid and antihistamine to counter any unpleasant reaction. Befitting her personality, she took all of this in great stride, and made the hospital hers, strolling among the dogs and cats with that singular Somang affability, as sweet a dog the world has ever seen.

FULL story at link.

[Arugula Latte]

1. I wish people would do pig and cow rescue from US factory farms, too.

[Doremus]

2. This. k&r n/t