Why, oh, why does there have to be so much sadness in the world?
There is a flea market a couple of hours from where I practice that churns out sadness like your car churns out carbon monoxide.
Puppy and kitten mill operators come from all around to hawk their wares and the unsuspecting in the crowd become the victims, along with the malformed, malnourished and uncared-for pets they foist onto those who dare to get too close and say, “Ohhhhh…”
Today a precious little teenaged girl brought her Tila into the clinic, a comatose little Chihuahua. The poor baby couldn’t hold her head up, her eyes would barely open and her heart was racing.
Tila’s family had no money for diagnostics on a nearly-hopeless little puppy, so as a shot in the dark we gave her some oral glucose, and a little time to respond.
Alas, respond she did not and with a head the size of both of my thumbs the likelihood that she had a bad case of hydrocephalus was very high.
The family elected to let little Tila go, and just go home and cry.
There are no laws being broken at this flea market, but hearts certainly are, again and again.
I can only imagine what the veterinarians who practice closer to there go through. They must see these pitiful little animals on a daily basis.
It’s heartbreaking. And frustrating to know there isn’t one single thing we can do to end it.
See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.
