Rover’s final destination

Their first hunting expedition together was a success. They killed six of farmer Brown’s sheep and partially ate a six month old lamb, the rest of which they dragged and stored in their makeshift home below the bridge.{{more}}

After a few days of high protein diet, their strength returned, their wounds were on the mend, and even though Gipsy was riddled with mange, they both began to pack on some weight. Because sarcoptic mange is so contagious, Rover soon began to scratch uncontrollably and started losing hair.

Then the unthinkable happened. Gipsy, who had not been in heat for over six months, suddenly begun to exhibit signs of heat. They romped and frolicked and she became pregnant in the process. After two months, she gave birth to 8 beautiful pups, but due to the wet and damp conditions under which they were living, only 3 survived. Within a few weeks, their beautiful coat was reduced to rough scaly skin with hardly any hair. Their beautiful puppy features transformed into gaunt eczema riddled appearance.

They survived on whatever fruits were in season, an occasional rat, insects, and whatever else they could scavenge from the garbage dump a few miles away.

There came the time when Rover realized that if they did not move on to a location where they could get something proper to eat, they all would die of starvation.

So he gathered up his family that now consisted of Mom Gipsy and her brood of 3 pups, Missy, Cojoe and Rex, and began their trek to find a better life. Unfortunately, this trek took them through the neighboring village. On crossing the relatively busy main road, the puppies that were scarcely six weeks old, and knew nothing of the urban life, got confused while crossing the road. They had almost crossed over, when a truck came rumbling down at tremendous speed. Little Cojoe made an about turn and bolted for the other side of the road, and was instantly crushed to bits. The driver continued merrily on his way. Rover, Gipsy and the remaining siblings watched in horror at what had just happened. Rover felt humiliated as he started questioning his decision of moving from the relative safety of the country bridge. Gipsy, with tears in her sad eyes, beckoned Missy and Rex to stay as close as possible to her as they blindly followed Rover. He, on the other hand, had no clue as to where he was taking them. He set his nose to the wind and continued stoically onward. They were about to cross the village when a group of bored kids spotted them and decided to use them as target practice with stones from the gravel roads. The first stone barely clipped the nose of Rover. The second was much more deadly as it landed squarely on Missy’s left eye The eye exploded as her juvenile skull caved in under the force of impact, as the broken family disappeared under the welcoming vegetation beyond the country road and the menacing kids.

Deep in the brushes, close to a stream, Rover chose to bed down with his family for the night. Shaken by events of the past few hours, not a word was said between them. Little Rex kept looking back towards the beaten path as though he expected to see Cojoe and Missy bounding in at any moment with youthful exuberance.

Hunger overtook them, and without saying a word, both Rover and Gipsy knew what had to be done. Gipsy allowed Rex to nurse off the little milk she had left and waited until he was fast asleep before silently going off with Rover to find dinner. With heightened sense of smell, they soon found a goat farm just beyond the village limits.

“Tonight is our lucky night,” thought Rover, as just next to the entrance to the farm was a plate filled with succulent meat. It looked too good to be true, and without a second thought they both wolfed it down, even though there was a strong chemical smell coming from the meat. Soon after, a severe burning sensation ripped through their digestive tract as the gramoxone-soaked meat started to have its deadly effect on their body. Apparently, this farmer suffered violent attacks on his livestock on a regular basis and set the poisoned meat to bait the perpetrators of the act.

They both managed to worm their way back to where Rex was sleeping but could not sleep as the excruciating pain got worse and worse. By the next day breathing became difficult and the pain was like burning coals in their bodies. Every breath became tortuous as the characteristic groaning was heard with each breath. Their tongues were burnt raw, as was their entire digestive tract. There was liver and kidney failure. And within 3 to 4 days they would die an excruciating death.

Little Rex tried as much as he could to comfort them even though the throes of hunger he felt were overwhelming; he could do nothing else but to watch them die.

For further information, contact:
Dr. Collin Boyle
Unique Animal Care Co. Ltd.
Tel: 456 4981
Website: www.uniqueanimalcare.com