Subject: Tragedy at Antigua Poodles
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 12:25:01 -0500
We have just suffered an horrific tragedy here that I hope none of you will ever have to experience.
Sit down for this one...
We have just suffered the loss of 6 beloved dogs... Juvelle, Fugo, Borsa, Brillant, co-owned
w/Olivia Olsen, Rob's field trial Lab puppy, Blanca, and Carolyn O'Rourke's Brando on
Friday evening, July 1st. Dancer has been at vet since Friday evening. I am still thinking it is all a
bad dream.
Friday started out a normal day. Dogs and horses taken care of with help of Brooke, 5, and Kayla, 1. I then fixed breakfast and got us all dressed and ready for day. I worked on photo orders and started downloading photos from PCA. I printed photos and got them ready to mail out and worked on proofs for customers. I also printed photos of my own Borsa and Fugo. We let the dogs out a final time around 2 pm Friday before I left to take kids to see Herbie movie with my parents. Movie was at 3pm, over a bit after 4, and then I had to run a couple of short errands before going home. Rob called me and said he was going home before me and asked if any dogs needed to go out again when he got home. I told him to let Lily and small dogs in the house out, but dogs in our dog grooming room would be ok until I got home as they were just out at 2. I got home shortly after Rob, maybe 5:30-6pm. On the way home, Brooke had been begging to play with her friend next door and I told her yes. Kayla was sleeping and I carried her in house and put her in her bed, said quick hello to Rob, and ran out let dogs out to play,
Brooke yelling at me to wait for her. She never misses out on playing with dogs and went with me to see her favorite Standards, Dancer and Brando, and all others, before going next door to play
with her friend. I never have to ask Brooke for help with dogs and get in big trouble with her
if I leave her out of anything. She loves playing with her friends but always love for dogs and puts time with them has such love for them. She had to go with me, running to catch up with me, to say hello to them before running off to play. We opened door telling dogs "hello", and Brooke and I screamed at same time. Fugo and Juvelle were not moving, laying on sides like they were asleep. I quickly glanced at others and at same time yelled to Brooke to run get Rob for help. Dancer was barely lifting her head and panting. Everyone else was dead. I think I fell to the floor and could hardly see through my tears, but I had to take care of Dancer. Rob ran in, confused at what Brooke had told him through her tears, asking what was wrong, like he had misunderstood Brooke or something. I yelled at him to help me with Dancer, our only survivor. We put her in tub and watered down her face, belly, and legs to start cooling her. I then, out of disbelief, rechecked other dogs, to make sure my eyes had seen correctly and make sure that there was not slightest inkling of hope to save any of them. They were all dead, no breathing and no pulse. I ran to get van turned on and cooled, grabbed Kayla, who I had just minutes before laid in her bed asleep.
Brooke ran to tell Rob to bring Dancer and we sat in back of van with her while Rob drove. We kept her back covered to keep her from getting her back colder than her underside that could cause a stroke. She was lifting her head and was very coherent, just very weak. We rushed to emergency vet and they started working on her. As we were waiting to see if Dancer stabilized, I then had to call my 2 clients to let them know what had happened to their dogs. I felt so bad as there was nothing I could do to bring their dogs back. Just 2 weeks ago we were at PCA
and Carolyn was going to take Brando home to put him in a pet home with a friend of hers.
I told her I'd maintain his show coat and keep working with him free of charge until we could see a bit more into the future to see if she'd want to then go ahead and pursue his AKC Ch title again. I felt so bad because if I had sent him home with her, he'd at least still be alive and as a pet with a
good home with her vet friend. I talked to Olivia, who answered the phone in high spirits to hear my voice. We were both so excited about upcoming shows and getting Brillant back out in his adult trim in the open classes. I was feeling high about him and already wishful thinking that he may finish in 2 big clusters of shows we entered him in for July. I felt so bad to tell Olivia what had happened and I don't even know how I could even talk through the tears and shock of what had happened. I called and called Carolyn with no luck of her answering but had to reach her that night to make sure what to do with Brando.
Then we had to go home to pick up our 6 nonsurvivors and take them to the pet cemetery to make sure they were contained properly and wait to get them cremated. I finally reached Carolyn on the phone later that night, as we were driving to cemetery, to let her
know how her not-so-swift day she was having would also end that way. She has already had such unreal bad luck with her dogs in the last year, I hated to have to tell her one more horrible thing had just happened.
When we got to the pet cemetery, I think it hit me the most. Rob and I had lay out each dog to ID them and I held each one of them saying how sorry I was and how much I loved them and wished none of this would have happened. Why did this have to happen? Even Brando who'd only been with us such a short time and was not my dog, had stolen my heart with his sweet, playful personality. Saying goodbye to Juvelle was the hardest. I loved her so much and she as the kind of dog that never let me down, ever. I could have sworn through the tears in my eyes that I saw her tail move as I hugged her one last time.Fugo, my grand boy, who was Kayla's dog. Or was it that Kayla was his little person? Borsa, Juvelle's daughter, my crazy little black bitch who so loved to show and so head strong for me not to tell her how to do things in the ring. Brillant, the most cuddly of Poodles, and my closest Poodle shadow at all times. Rob's sweet, kind Blanca, a yellow Lab, who'd annoyed us with all of her non-Poodle like antics, but we had grown accept and love as she was such a special Lab from a line a friend of mine founded over 20 years ago. It was by far the worst nightmare realized in my life. I have never felt so much overwhelming pain and grief and guess the only thing worse than this would be losing a close family member or one or both of my 2 legged children to a comparable tragedy. (Our dogs are our 4 legged kids and near equals to our 2 legged ones.)
Today is Sunday. I am still breaking out into tears at any given moment, and quite often,
still in shock over what has happened to our dogs. Dancer is showing much improvement
but we are still not in the clear. When we finally arrived back home Friday night/Saturday
morning about 1 o'clock or so, we noticed then that our clocks, microwave, and phone
were flashing from power going out. I found out Saturday morning that we had suffered a power
outage and record high heat index Friday afternoon ...112 degrees according to neighbors backyard temperature. Our dog room was hot, bearable (maybe) for a person who sweats,
but not enough for dogs, mostly in show coat, who can only pant to cool off and who
are used to 72 degrees AC year round.
We also have just found out now that Reliant Energy, our electrical provider, has suffered a circle of problems with government regulation and inability to raise prices to cover new equipment needed to supply service to all of its customers. Many complaints have been issued recently, over power outages nearby, even going to Federal Government level.
This was our first occurrence and I had no idea we were also to be in the loop of power outages. It hadn't happened and did not think we were at risk. Just leaving for a short while from our house, I'd never have dreamed of anything like this happening. We are pursuing information about the outage that caused our breaker for dog room AC unit to shut off, but nothing, even if we recover damages and losses, will bring back our dogs and repair the hurt we've all gone through.
I am heartbroken over our losses and also for our 2 clients, Carolyn and Olivia, and for the losses of their 2 dogs as well.
Please say some prayers for all of us to make it through our grief and also for Dancer to make
it through all of this ok. Dancer is my only Juvelle daughter left and Brooke's pride and joy. Also, we have 4 Juvelle grandsons sired by Fugo, out of Lily, now 6 days old. They thankfully, were not in my grooming room with the other bigger show dogs, but were separated and in main house with main unit that did come back on. Our 3 smaller dogs, our Pekingese, Hero, Carolyn's silver Toy Poodle, Dana, and a Miniature Poodle puppy, Juliet, that Carolyn gave to Brooke at PCA Nat'ls, were all unaffected from this disaster, as they were in separate area away from the bigger dogs and with a different AC unit.
Please pass word along to all dog owners, no matter where they live, to be EXTRA CAREFUL AND AWARE of power outages whether pets are in homes, AC'd garages, and/or kennel buildings. If they work all day, they get help of neighbors and friends who are home
during the day to look into dogs during hot part of day while they are away. I would have never dreamed anything like this could have happened to us and our dogs and would not want anyone else to have to suffer the loss of their 4 legged family members either.
Melissa Priddy
Antigua Standard Poodles
Priddy PhotoGraphics
832-934-2986
Priddypoodle@Earthlink.net
