Yesterday began so miserably it's going to be hard to go into it once again, but I'm going to explain everything that happened to preserve this.
At about 3 am my sister got up to do her morning shift at 9th Street. She got done at 3:45 AM or so and went to the door and let in Miranda. She seemed scared and almost banged her head on the door to get inside, according to my sister. At 5 AM, I heard a horrible screaming from my Mom from the kitchen window. I was scared to hear her scream like that and I thought maybe there was an intruder in the house. I quickly looked out my window to see if the van was parked right outside my window so I'd have a place to jump if I needed to run away.
I quickly got up after yelling, "Is everyone safe?" I had heard "They've got Tabitha!" and quickly put my clothes on. During this time I heard a loud BANG that seemed to silence the neighborhood until my mom started screaming again. There were two dogs that I didn't see exactly but I got the descriptions and can give you somewhat accurate pictures.
A full sized Great Dane. My Dad ended up shooting it and it yelped loud enough that both the Great Dane and the pit let go of Tabitha and ran off.
A blue coat pitbull. Note that none of us knew anyone owned a pitbull in our neighborhood. Usually pitbulls are limited to families in Green Acres trailer park, if we had known these ferocious, full sized dogs were living down the road there's no way in Hell we would have let our cats in at night.
The pitbull and the Great Dane tag teamed my poor, defenseless, elderly cat that was minding her own business in the backyard. She had no idea what was coming when the two dogs started throwing her in the air and ripping her apart furiously. They both had a grip on her and spun around in circles until Dad shot at the Great Dane.
They didn't even kill her, my Dad ended up bringing the gun out before they could. We figured Tabitha was dead, but she was dying on her back in the backyard. We didn't know what to do, we were all shocked and crying, and my Mom had walked down the road, following the dogs when she realized they were the Mexican's down the road's dogs. I can't remember their last name, it's like Gonzalez or something. They moved there after the Linohans moved out and just officially bought the house, meaning they're there for good. Their fence in their backyard was completely falling down because these dogs had tore it to shreds over time.
These people used to own little yappy dogs. The ones that they'd let roam free around the neighborhood, some little chihuahua bullshit dog. Their dogs had been the ones that followed me and Mitch Missett around on Christmas break for miles and barked at us for hours. These are also the dogs that I'd try walking out to my car and they'd start yapping at me. I wanted to strangle that stupid dog. Apparently they did too because they got rid of those little dogs and bought two monsters that created a threat to the entire neighborhood.
Because apparently those big dogs had broke from their fence numerous times and got into the Cunningham's yard when they were just babies. As Blue (that's the pitbull's name, assuming he has a blue coat) got older he would actually go into the Cunningham's house and rest on their furniture and act super friendly with Mrs. Cunningham. Because of this, she had told her husband that she knew something bad was going to happen from these dogs if the Hispanic family down the road wouldn't stop letting their dogs roam around free. Unfortunately she never told us so we didn't use precaution about letting our cats out, and this disgusting tragedy that damaged our family had to happen.
I stormed down the road. My mom had been standing there hysterically crying and I knew I had to take control and show these people who the fuck I was and that there dogs were going to die.
"Your dogs came into MY yard and killed MY CAT? What the Fuck is you people's problem letting those things run wild? Those dogs are DEAD! I will make sure those dogs are DEAD. You fucking people own your stupid Machismo dogs, why don't you buy yourself a damn golden retriever?" The Machismo thing was the only racially directed insult that I threw out. It is Machismo to own one of those things. People that are insecure and try to be macho and tough buy these stupid dogs that aren't even loyal to their owners.
They kept saying "I'm sorry.." like dumbfounded idiots. You're sorry? No, you're not sorry until both of those dogs are euthanized so they can never terrorize again. I was so angry. I was furious, I wanted to make them feel horrible. I wanted them to know the pain I felt for what had happened. My cat was dying in our backyard and we had to wrap her up in towels and drive her to the pet emergency clinic in Pasco to get her put down. She was crying in my lap, looking up at me and I kept saying "It's okay... it's okay..." and crying myself. My mom had told me to calm down for her sake but I found it very difficult. She was in pain and I was in pain because there was nothing I could do. I sat there saying my last goodbyes and trying to be as calm as possible for her.
The emergency clinic put her down somewhat quickly, but it was an agonizing wait as we were given the options. We knew we had to put her down. She's elderly so we didn't know if she would be able to heal from all of her internal injuries as well as a broken leg. She was given an injection to ease any pain, then she was send to Heaven. They put her in a lovely burial bag, tied with a bow.
We drove home, very sad and very angry. I had calmed down from all the crying, but I was also anxious and nervous because I realized we had no idea where Michiko and Marlow were (okay, even if Marlow is our kind of annoying stray I still care about him). I was hoping for the best, that they were just hiding out somewhere and they'd turn up eventually.
We got home at 7' or so and my Dad and I dug a hole for her burial. We put her next to Spanky. Spanky is buried under the boat in our backyard. That was the end of my three first childhood kitties, and I was devastated that her demise came in our own backyard, a place that she's always felt safe in the 13 years of living with us.
I posted about this on facebook and got an extraordinary amount of responses from caring souls, many of which had a similar thing happen to them when they were kids (WITH pitbulls!). In fact my friend Chris had to witness his own cat getting killed by a pitbull and had an incredible amount of sympathy. I knew that this was a problem that is way larger than I'd ever imagined.
Last year in the United States, about thirty dog bites were reported and 22 of them were pitbulls (I got this info from Dogbite.com yesterday). Just a few years ago the Cook family's pitbull ripped the cheek off their son. There is no reason these dogs should be living here, they're a safety hazard.
On top of that, they're ugly ass dogs. Hideous, with those tiny little beady eyes and ripped muscles for chasing after children and other animals. Mrs. Cunningham had told us their dogs used to prowl up and down the fenceline like bullies to intimidate the Cunningham's dog. Pitbulls pack up with other dogs, making them more dangerous than most breeds. They have a lock grip and twist and rip flesh to shreds.
Then why do people own them? Why would someone own an intimidating, potentially extremely dangerous dog? Well why do people own big guns and super flashy cars? To make up for their small penis, of course! That's all machismo stuff is! Guys are insecure about their small dicks so they have to buy this kind of garbage to make up for it.
We had to play the waiting game after the incident. We'd called the cops they came to our house and he called Animal control. He'd told us that we needed to save the bill for the euthanization and give it to the animal control people. The cop had talked to the other family, who'd told them it was ONLY the Great Dane that was at fault. I was like, oh no.. Both of them are at fault, both of them need to die.
Unfortunately, the animal control people did not stop at our house as they were instructed and went down the road and somehow the Gonzalez's weaseled their way out of their pit bull getting taken away and they loaded it up into a truck to take elsewhere so they can go visit it. Disgusting people they are, how dare they do that when it'd just taken our pet's life. Eye for an eye, both of those dogs needed to die for breaking an entrance into our yard and committing a violent crime on our animals.
My Dad had tried talking to the animal control people but they were very rude and didn't give my Dad any straight answers, probably because they realize they'd made a mistake in letting the pitbulls go. We decided that though there wasn't much more we can do, we submitted a letter to animal control to forward to them requesting the money for the euthanization. The letter has details of everything that occurred, and I hope they feel extremely guilty.
Because it's there fault. It's not the dogs. Those dogs were doing what they do naturally, which is be savages. It's in their nature, especially when they'd been ignored and held up in a tiny pen. The family had let the dogs roam free that morning because they were packing up for a camping trip. They'd escaped from the yard and came directly to our house where they tortured and brutally wounded my animal, which my parents both witnessed first hand. All because of the avoidable carelessness of these people.
I never want to live in a neighborhood where pitbulls are living. Actually if it was up to me they'd be entirely illegal. Everyone loves to claim, "Mine is so sweet, it'd never hurt anyone." If you wanted a sweet dog that had no real threat of killing someone why wouldn't you get an Afghan, a Collie, a pug, a terrier,... so many breeds of dogs that wouldn't do something like this. But no, because people have some need to have some badass dog that they believe will protect them. If you want a dog that will protect you, there are plenty of varieties of hunting dogs that are known for being both well behaved and loyal/protective to their owners.
Because I've really yet to see a super loyal or well behaved pitbull. They always have a ton of energy and I feel uncomfortable that they might turn on you in a second. My aunt owns those stupid pitbulls. I always hated Lola and would push her away if she got anywhere near me. Mandy used to get irritated by this, she would be like "Oh she's just trying to give you love." Uhm. No thanks. I don't want love from that.
Luckily, Michiko and Marlow are alive and well. Michi is following mom around like always and Miranda has been laying close. They both seem very happy to be alive, and I know that sounds weird to say about a cat but they've been super loving and calm. Miranda and Michi won't spend much time outside anymore, however. Miranda was actually sitting in my Dad's garage yesterday in the middle of the floor, which is completely out of character for her.
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We got Tabitha when I was in the 2nd grade. We were looking for kittens because we'd gotten Spanky when I was 6 (which worked out great) and my parents thought my sister and I were responsible enough to handle a couple more. We went into the vet clinic and I remember the glee I felt when we saw the large cage full of little kittens. They were all meowing to get our attention, but there was one in particular the meowed the loudest and climbed up the highest and it was a little average sized, fluffy gray Tabby.
I immediately wanted to see her and the vet got her own for me. She was so loving and happy to get my attention that she sat right on my lap and nuzzled against me. Little did I know this continuous nuzzling and rubbing would continue for the next fourteen years because we think she might've been removed from her mother too early.
My sister chose the one orange one, who ran away scared and they had to get him out from behind the plant. My mom was trying to convince me to look at Tabitha's less-friendly sister that was also sitting in the cage but I wasn't interested. Tabitha seemed perfect and we adopted her.
We got them home and let them roam around in their new environments. I loved Tabitha so much and helped take care of her.
In her adulthood Tabitha was very easygoing and laid around for most of her life. She liked to nuzzle on people and was very popular with guests that would come to our house. She liked to hunt and was the best at catching birds. She never welcomed new cats much, but didn't bother them either. I do remember her getting pretty mad when Sadie came (the terrier) and used to whack her in the face sometimes with her paw if she got too close. It was funny because it never hurt Sadie but she really wanted to be Tabitha's friend.
Tabitha and Spanky were close, and sometimes you could catch Spanky licking Tabitha's forehead and they'd lay together on the back porch. It was very cute. For the most part, though, Tabitha minded her own business and did her own thing. She didn't ask for much attention but occasionally I'd sit down and pet her if she didn't seem annoyed by it. She didn't really seem to care for getting pet much but I think she enjoyed the attention from people.
It's a shame that she met the fate that she did, and she will be missed.
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Happy 4th of July everyone. I'll write about that tomorrow, today should be interesting. I've gotta get some practice done. I've been sitting here for a couple hours waiting for my mom to get me something important at the store which we NEVER have in my house because my sister uses them all. Ugh, so frustrating.
Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon with Katelynn and we saw Men in Black III. It was stupid but it was nice to get out for awhile and spend time with her and Alan. It helped me get my mind off things. I'll be watching the fireworks show here in Benton city with them tonight and also stopping at her mom's friend's house for a BBQ. I'm sort of sad that again I'll be watching the fireworks show without anyone to cuddle up next to. I remember hoping last year that things this year might be different, even if last year I had an amazing time with some girl friends. It was just a *little* spark of hope that didn't come true again but hey that's life. I'm going to have a good one this year, too.
peace.
