Letter to an Animal > Reviews (96)

Dear Jerry-lee
You were a gift for my 18th birthday off Ada .My own bundle of Alsatian. You were gorgeous beige/ginger all over with a nose that looked like you had had it in black paint big eyes and big ears. I would walk you when you were little you would bark at people and they would laugh .You thought you were hard. Ada said one day they wouldn’t laugh.

You were a total horror you ate through doors and windows. No matter how hard we tried we could not house train you at night. The vet said you had a funny tummy. Dogs with this condition don’t usually live longer than six. Six seemed miles away.

We got you a friend called prince a black Alsatian cross he was cute but naughty and one New Years Eve you both got out. We searched everywhere; we phoned everywhere nowhere was open. Two days later the local dogs home opened we went down and had a look you weren’t there. The stress gave me the only nosebleed I have ever had. When we came home we heard a noise in the back garden There you were I hugged you for ages on the kitchen floor you seemed to understand what I had felt and just sat there. Prince never did come home years later we heard about a man that had been killing dogs at around the time you both went. Maybe he wasn’t as lucky as you.

You were never the same after you come home you were always jumpy near cars. You missed prince a lot and in time we got a new dog Kelly Emma. One season you and Kelly got it together and along came Charlie. Kelly became very snappy so when a home came up for her we jumped at it and kept Charlie your son he was exactly the same as you beige /ginger with a black paint pot nose but his ears never stayed up. The two of you would jump around the house driving me mad. You would bark like mad at my best friend through the cat flap .I’m sure you found it funny but she never did she still shouts me from the bottom of the path instead of knocking the door.

You were so clever you would play fight with ada jumping all over him then within minutes you were all soft and staying still while the girls put hair bobbles around your ears.

You were great at keeping secrets I could tell you anything and know it would go no further. You were my friend. I loved to walk you and watch grown men cross the road. Nobody laughed when you barked then.

Then suddenly you became ill. You moved slower and you didn’t want to play any more. We made the decision that we would end your suffering. Pippa groomed you the night before and you seemed to like that. I still have the hair from the brush.

When morning came ada carried you to the car. You didn’t have the strength to walk. You walked into the vets but had to be carried in to the room. The vets didn’t say a lot they knew we knew it was time. I’d always thought when the time came that I would be a selfish person and want to keep you alive but I wasn’t. They gave us some time to say goodbye and as the needle went in I held you tight.

I felt the pain and your life go.

That was thirteen months ago. I miss you as much now as I did then. Charlie helped he was great for cuddles and hugs. He is always at my side. I think he misses you to.

We have just brought a new puppy Manni. Not to replace you but to try to fill a huge void that you have left in my life.

Thanks Jerry-lee for the ten years we had you were the best birthday gift I ever received.

Sarah xxxxxx