by Russell and Sandy Smith / Mommy and Daddy

Jasper was a very special dog. He came to my wife and I from a home where he was loved by his master but not by his wife. He was kept in a cage for 5 years. Jasper brought us love and joy. He would not give kisses easily, I don’t think he much trusted people after his ordeal.

He became Mommy’s little angel after she was very sick, he would lay on her stomache to keep it warm because he knew it hurt her badly. He was my best friend. We went everywhere we could together. One morning when we were walking a Pit Bull came through a bottom floor window of an apartment. She attacked and I was kicking and punching her and Jasper was biting but She locked her jaws onto Jasper’s neck.

I was scared but I was determined not to let the other dog have him no matter what. Jasper showed me more than once he would give his life for me and I was willing to do the same. He was like my child. After allot of drama a stranger came out with a hammer and(after several swings) knocked the dog’s jaws loose. We both had to go to the emergency room, there was blood all over the place, Jasper’s and mine. He had a bump on his neck the size of a grapefriut, but he was OK. After the incident I was very leary about walking Jasper. I had never noticed so many people walk big dogs withut a leash.

I wanted a weapon. I got a can of police issue mace from a friend. I thought after the attack Jasper would be more afraid of other dogs, especially big ones. But he wasn’t. He was still the same old Jasper who weighed 25 lbs. but would tangle with a Rottweiler if he had the chance(and did once-scared the hell out of the Rott.).

After a week or so I took Jasper back for a ckeck-up. He had swollen lymph nodes in his neck. This turned out to be cancer. Lymphoma is very aggressive and though the doctor said he could live up to three months I knew that probably would not happen The same cancer took my Father in one month. In one month Jasper was gone too.

The world looks uglier without Jasper in it. We miss him so much. But Jasper taught us something. Even after all his ordeals he never lost heart. He never backed down from another dog, and he lived his life to the fullest. The day I took him in to be put down was the hardest day of my life. Not a day goes by I don’t think of Jasper, my little dog with the heart of a lion.

 

Meet us at the Rainbow Bridge,
Russell and Sandy Smith