by Paul Larusch

Created on: June 12, 2008

Back in April of this year my wife and I took our sick dog to the emergency room at a local veterinary clinic. Zoey hadn't eaten much the previous few days and, if she slept or rested too long on her right side, would have trouble breathing. We knew why she was having problems breathing and why she was losing her appetite: she had a large, growing tumor on her right lung which, because it had been discovered too late (after it had started spreading)could not be completely removed. The growth on her lung was not only making it difficult for her to breathe; it was also making her feel "full" because it was pressing on her stomach.

The vet on duty in the ER told us there was nothing she could do for us except drain the fluid which had accumulated in Zoey's chest cavity. That may make it easier for her to breathe, she explained. Then she looked at us and asked if we'd considered euthanizing the dog. Though it shouldn't have, that question came as a surprise to us. We hadn't considered ending the dog's life, we didn't that night, we're glad we didn't, and we think we did the right thing. We had the fluid drained from her chest cavity, paid our bill, and left. Read on and see if you agree with our decision not to euthanize Zoey and our reasoning behind it.

First a little background-a simple, routine incident-which, I think, will explain our loyalty to Zoey. Five or six years ago I had a work assignment on the State University campus in Cortland, NY. I took the dog with me on the road trip. When we arrived in Cortland it was too late to start work, so I checked into a pet-friendly mom-and-pop motel near the campus (For all the humans reading this who don't know: all Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns are pet-friendly.) called the Imperial Motel. It's not a bad place (I've since stayed there several times): it's on a main road, in a well-lighted commercial area, clean, warm, dry, and cheap.

At about 2 AM I was half asleep watching one of the Fox News shows and Zoey was lying next to me on the bed. Suddenly, for no reason apparent to me, her head popped up, she turned toward the window, barked, jumped off the bed, ran up to the door and started barking again. It took me a second or two to realize what was going on; when I did, I got out of bed and walked quickly to the window and looked out it. I saw a person moving swiftly and diagonally from my car across the parking lot toward the sidewalk. Was that person going to try to break into my car? Possibly; there were several boxes

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