Our sweet little girl, Ruby, passed away today. I came home from work and found her. As you can imagine, I am devastated. She was the sweetest girl that ever lived and we will be lost without her. She’d been through so much…..
My best friend, and at the time coworker Katie, and I had rescued her from Hartford Animal Control on her last day. Some scumbag used her to breed and after he was arrested for domestic violence, Ruby was taken to the pound. Hartford dogs are only given 7 days to be claimed or adopted and on their 8th day, they are euthanized. Thanks to Sherry, a Hartford ACO, she was given a second chance. We drove there and picked her up and brought her to our shelter. I remember immediately falling in love with her. She was pregnant at the time, and though we can’t stand the thought of people breeding dogs, we were excited to have a litter at our shelter. She was my little sidekick for the next month or so….constantly in the front office with me or out for a walk.
We were like velcro….
Katie called me one Saturday morning, saying that Ruby was in distress, and she thought she was about to deliver. I rushed from my house, in Middletown at the time, and to Wallingford to be with her and help her out. I waited in her kennel for hours, but nothing. I moved her and her whelping box to the bathroom, where it was cooler and more quiet, as all the other dogs were up in arms with all the commotion. Still, no pups. I called Dr. Wells from North Colony Animal Hospital, who was nice enough to rush down on his day off, right before his church choir concert. He only had bad news for me. The first puppy was stuck and deceased. It was far too large for her little 50 lb body, and she would die from the toxins if I didn’t get her to the emergency vet fast. He called Chesire Emergency Vet for me, and helped me load her into the van. I rushed there as fast as I could, not even knowing how to get there on my own. But fate showed me the way, and I made it without
taking a single wrong turn.
Once there, they got her prepared for surgery right away. They asked me who they should try and save. “Do everything you can to save Ruby, she comes first, puppies come second. I don’t care about the cost, please just do anything.” All I could do was sit there and hope she’d be alright. That was the longest day of my life. I waited there for at least 8 hours, for any news, whether it be good or bad. Finally the doctor came out and told me that she was alive, but not doing well. Only 5 puppies out of 9 remained, and one was very, very weak. I went in and saw her….she was out cold. Exhausted and lifeless, she couldn’t do as much as lift her head. But the very next day, I called to ask how she was doing and they told me she had improved drastically! We went and picked her up along with her 5 adorable little babies. She recognized me right away and ran over, tail wagging, and jumped up on my lap. I knew then that she had to come home with me.
A few days later, the weakest pup passed away. You could tell that Ruby was depressed and wasn’t doing well otherwise. She was anemic and exhausted and very thin. I bought her cube steaks, yogurt, vegetables, baby food, the whole works. The next few weeks were touch and go but then she began to become herself again. All 4 pups were adopted at about 10 weeks old, and as soon as Dominic and I moved to a bigger house in Wallingford a few weeks later, we took Ruby home. It took a few days, but then she fit right in with our 2 others and our cat. We spoiled her rotten, up until her last day. She really bonded closely with Guinness, our American Bulldog. She was the sweetest and most friendly dog to ever walk the earth. She greeted Girl Scouts and Brownies who came through our shelter for tours. She came to my Mom’s on Christmas Eve, and she was so gentle with my 6 month old niece. She would greet anyone that walked through our door with kisses and then demanded belly rubs…her favorite thing in the world besides food. She didn’t care who you were or where you came from, she wanted to be your best buddy the second she met you. However, she was the first dog on the front line if she thought you were in danger. She changed so many peoples minds about pit bulls with her sweet and docile nature…. And she loved to have fun. She was the only dog here who’d jump right into the kiddie pool, splash around and have a freakin blast. She was so silly and was always doing the cutest, goofiest things that would make us laugh hysterically. She was a chunky little thing and constantly made snorting noises like a little piglet.
We only had Ruby for a just under a year. In that short time, she changed our lives. With so many memories, both good and bad, she will be missed tremendously. From the bottom of our hearts and the hearts of everyone that knew her, that little piggy will be missed, loved and remembered always. She came into our lives for a reason, and the lessons she taught us will stay with us for life. Rest in peace little girl, we love you sooooooo much and will never ever forget
the special bond we shared.
With infinite love and sincerity,
| Ruby Tuesday |
| Rachel |