We live in a small rural town in Alabama where it's quiet most of the time. I stay to myself and I take care of my children and my pets. I started taking in pets when I moved here because there was such a need in this area.There was dogs every where on our street but one by one they all started disappearing and dying.
This is our story
Our first rescue was a little pup we named Lucky. We had saved him from starving. He was only 6 weeks old. His momma had several pups and delivered them under an abandoned home. We also found the other pups a home. Then we saved Freekles, a little 2 month old Basset Hound that the neighbors abandoned. Freekles would follow the girls home from school and we fell in love. So Lucky and Freekles were a team and they were the best doggies ever.
One year later on December 26 Freekles wondered off and we couldn't find him. He had been taken off by some Teens and gotten hit by a car. We hunted everywhere for him finally I placed a huge sign at the store down the road and this woman calls me to tell me she had seen freekles get hit by a car and he survived. She didnt know what to do with him so she let him lay in her carport until animal control came the next day and got him.He lived until he was "rescued." I found out were he was and contacted the vet. The vet had put Freekles to sleep one hour before I had called to claim him. I was devastated. All he had was a broken leg. It was close to New Year's weekend and in my opinion the vet didnt want to be bothered with the hassle of taking care of my baby. The vet also thought Freekles was old so he said I figured no one would claim him so quickly or not at all. . My God--you could look at his teeth and tell he was only 1 year old!When we wnt to get his body I stormed in the vets office demanding I speak to the vet I wanted to tell him off for killing our dog so we stood their and waitied and no one came so I stormed through the door and walked in the back holding freekles photo and stuck it in his face and said is this my baby you killed?? The vet said yes he was in really bad shape and his testicles had also been ran over in the wreck there was no saving him he was in too much pain.
So while I was in the back telling this vet how I felt about him killing our dog the vet tech had taken him and placed his frozen body in the arms of my 10 year old little girl. When I walked back in the main waiting room she was sitting there with a 40 pound frozen dog in her arms. I could see the tears flowing down her face and that mad me more furious. I took freekles and stormed out ,I layed his body on the tail gate and then I lost it ,screaming uncontrollably saying all kinds of things . I couldnt understand why this vet didnt save our dog but in his mind freekles was old. I had never lost a dog in this way before and the grief was to much.We brought Freekles home and grieved his loss and I swore if I ever got another dog he would "NEVER" be allowed outside without me. This is true and everyone that came to visit heard this on a daily basis.
I had been in contact with a lady that had Bassets because I wanted to get Freekles a friend at this time in my life I had no idea so many animals where being killed in shelters. So I contacted her after freekles died and she had a litter. It's so odd but all I wanted was a red and white. The entire litter was all white and black except one and he was dark red and white. I walk up to him and picked him up and knew I had to have him. I also started to cry. The lady didn't want to sell him, saying they were keeping him because he was special. I said. "Oh please, I'll give you more for him." So she agreed and we brought him home.
Then our life began with our new little pup whom I named Babyboy. Oh, how much joy he brought to our family, especially to my daughter Becca. They were a team, I tell ya! So much love between them. He was spoiled from the moment we drove away with him from the breeder. At first he was called a little bit of everything, since like most people, we just dididn't know what to name our pet. But Babyboy stuck. He loved "Chichi," our little Rat Terrier. They played all the time. At first Babyboy was little, but as he got bigger Chichi knew she had to get her bluff in on him. It was so funny.
As Babyboy got older I felt so bad because when other neighborhood dogs would come in the yard he always would look out the door and just look so pitiful. We have lot of neighborhood dogs that roam but not my baby--I knew better. I wasn't going through the heartache of losing him. We had a bond that I could never replace.We would take him outside and let him run, but we knew the limits. We always stood guard. Some people thought I was insane but heartache isn't easy to go through, so I always kept him close. Christmas 2007 was very special. We were all together except for Freekles. Because I worked six days a week I wasn't as close to Freekles even though I loved him dearly. So when I got Babyboy I was a stay-at-home mom and all my love and attention were always here with him. It's amazing how close you can become to dogs--who knew? I've always loved animals and I've always had a soft heart. I remember as a little girl bringing home every stray animal I found. Mom couldn't deal with all of them. But as a child I always had pets from bunnies to hamsters to kitties.
This is the hard part to write--the ending to the beautiful friendship we had. The day I lost my boy. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Around 5:30 or 6:00pm a neighbor came to my door. I thought it was odd. We didn't expect anyone that day. The lady was a neighbor and she came in with her mom and asked if I had a Basset. I said. "Oh, sure I do," and I called for Babyboy. She said, "No, we think he's been hurt." I said, "Not my dog. He's here. " Then I freaked. This terrible look came over her face. I started screaming, "Who let him out?" I grabbed my shoes and I ran outside. I was halfway down the hill when I was picked up by my neighbor, Keith, who drove me down the hill to where my Babyboy lay dead. I jumped out and ran to him screaming and crying the entire way. I fell to the ground and took him in my arms and just sat there and cried, "Oh God, please don't let my baby be dead!"
A crowd of neighbors had watched Babyboy die slowly in the street. Now they saw me as I fought to catch my breath and looked up to Keith asking him, "Why?," saying, "Please don't let this happen. Please don't let my baby die." A few feet away my neighbor stood in front of me, unemotional and without a care in the world. He had told an onlooker before I arrived that he would go get a gun and put Babyboy out of his misery. But he had been the cause of Babyboy's misery.
I had no idea what was happening. All I knew is that I was in shock and I wanted my boy back. Keith took Babyboy out of my arms and Dale, a neighbor, picked me up off the road and helped me to the truck, where I passed out from grief. I was driven back home. My daughter Rebecca was on the porch. I told her not to go down the road. I knew she heard me screaming because Dale heard me and came running down there. I got out of my truck in utter shock and I went to Rebecca and put my arms around her and told her our baby's gone. It was the hardest thing to do. We still didn't know the why or how of it. After that we go to Babyboy and looked and realized he had a bullet hole in his back.Oh God, I lost it. I pretty much knew right then who had done this !!!!!!
I called 911. They came out and I was just beside myself with grief. Halfway through questioning I told Keith. "I can't breathe. You must get me some help!" So the police called for the emergency rescue. They came out and did what they do. In the meantime the police questioned everyone and the shooter denied killing our Babyboy.
I calmed down some for Becca's sake. I was worried she thought I might die from a heart attack. It didn't get better that night. I cried for hours. We took Babyboy to the after-hours ER and they kept him there. I didn't want to leave him. I cried all the way home and cried until I fell asleep. The following weeks weren't any easier. I was so used to having Babyboy here. I just lay in my bed. Nothing was making the pain go away. I was so filled with hate and anger.
The shooter did finally admit to killing my baby, only to say he did it to protect his cat .I know the real truth behind the shooting now. I have a 300 page detailed deposition that explains it all. That is all I got that and our memories with our dog left . In the end many good things have came from this terrible tragedy ,we learned just how much animal abuse there is in the world and we try to spread that news and bring awareness to people.There really is no good ending to this story except because of babyboys death and because of our love for him people are more aware and they watch and care for their dog more then they did.Let this be a lesson to us all cherish and protect the things we love because around every corner there are sick people that will kill your beloved pet for the enjoyment of it.
We miss our Babyboy every day and wonder why this happened. Nothing could ever take the pain away.We love you Babyboy and miss you always.....Love, Mom
In Memory Of Babyboy
