Hello Everyone -
It is with great sadness that we have to share this news with all of you. Unfortunately, little Luke passed away some time between Monday night at 9:30 and Tuesday morning at 1:00 a.m. at his foster mom, Terry's, home.
For those of you who may not know who Luke was, Luke was a little sable 6 year old boy who was terribly abused. He was in a shelter and we were alerted to his plight by a potential adopter who had seen him at the shelter. Luke was beat up and apparently it was such a bad situation all around that Social Services were involved. Luke suffered from hip dysplasia in both hips and a fracture in one. His surgery was quoted to be very expensive and town shelters will not pay for that, so his attendant at the shelter was trying to raise the funds for him. She refused to euthanize Luke because she wanted him to be helped and she believed in him. She was his guardian angel and Luke was so lucky to have her!
Luke had been waiting since December for his surgery, but for those two months he was HAPPY. Even with his fracture and the terrible pain he was in, his tail was wagging and when I met him, he was running after a ball with all he had in him. It was close to quitting time at the shelter and as the employees were leaving for the day, they all stopped to give Luke a scruff on the head and say good night. His tail NEVER stopped wagging and he had a smile a mile wide for everyone!
Even though he was living in a town shelter, life was great as far as Luke was concerned.
But unfortunately Luke could not live a normal life with these injuries and without surgery, he would have always been in terrible pain. So a week ago Tuesday Luke had his surgery for one of his hips and in all honesty, we have no idea what happened. Terry, Aneita and I have spent the last two days with what if's this and what if's that. We really will never know if Luke threw a clot, had an underlying medical issue we knew nothing about or since he was abused, maybe he had an internal injury that went undiagnosed. The pain could have been just too much. We will never know. When I picked Luke up from his surgery, the sparkle in his eyes I saw at the shelter was gone. I honestly think Luke was just too tired and gave up.
Terry and Aneita had arranged hydrotherapy and physical therapy for Luke and Terry and her husband were already rehabbing him. Terry went to bed at 9:30 on Monday night and got up at 1:00 a.m. to check on him, but Luke was gone. We are grateful that Luke died in the warm comfort of Terry's home loved. He was wrapped up in Dolly's favorite blanket which she donated to him and a special coat Terry gave him to keep him warm and comfy. He was cremated with both.
Luke had a hard life and what is most heartbreaking is this was something that just did not have to be. We've taken care of dogs that were sick and older and when they pass, though it's not easy, we can accept it as a natural part of life.
Luke's passing was a result of abuse. I can never accept that. Neither Terry nor I have not stopped crying since Tuesday morning.
We were all so excited to help this dog. We wanted to help him heal, body and soul, and redeem his faith in the human race. We wanted to give him a happily ever after where he would be loved and respected always.
I, myself, am so heartbroken thinking that this dog only knew a life of pain and though we were trying to help him, he was in pain again and did not understand why. I feel like he left this world disappointed with people once again. I can only hope he did somehow feel and know that we wanted to help him the best we could.
Luke is at peace now and in pain no longer. I hope he is looking down at us and now knows for sure we wanted to do all we could for him and that he was honestly loved. The best way to honor Luke always is to do what we are doing; working together as a team to help as many of these sweeties as possible.
Please keep Luke in your thoughts always.
Thank You so much
Terry & Julie
