It’s really hard to formulate my thoughts on this, because it’s all very fresh and new, and very very painful. I hope it does not come out ramble-y because it’s all jumbled in my head, but I fee like I have to write about it.
This is jack and I
For those of you who are familiar with my blog, you know who Jack is. Jack is beyond a shadow of a doubt, my heart dog, There is no way I could have made it through the past few months without him in my life, and because of breed specific legislation I will never see him again.
I was born In Ottawa Ontario, a place where breed specific legislation has been in place, and inforced since 2005. Ontario’s breed specific legislation laws differ from other places in that if you are caught with a restricted animal, instead of being asked to leave the province/state and being issued a fine, your dog can be apprehended and murdered on site. Yes. murdered.
When my mariage ended, I was left with the hard choice of either leaving my dog with my husband, his sister, or essentially being homeless and being with my dog in Quebec, a province where I don’t even speak the official language. It sounds crazy, but it was still the hardest decision of my life. Jack is my best friend, and was my emotional rock for so long, I could not imagine life without him. I was more than willing to be homeless for him if that’s what it took but I didn’t have to.
My husband let me know that he was willing to take care of him until I found a place. I was glad because I knew if his sister took him in, she would never want to give him back. It was a risk with my husband too, because lets be honest, Jack is the best dog ever but him being alive and safe was the most important thing, So with the heaviest heart I’ve ever hadto bear, I left my dog with my husband and went home to start a new life.
All throughout the first while at home, I made it my goal to find a job, find a place in quebec, and get my dog back, My mantra for the longest time was DD, Dog & Divorce to signify what I was working towards. For months, anything dog related would make me burst into tears. pit bull magazines, other peoples dogs, pet stores, the word dog. I was more borken up about leaving my dog, than I was about the end of my marriage, because my dog actually loved me. unconditionally, no matter what, he loved me and I abandoned him. I was a mess.
My ONLY emotional saving grace was that I was going to find a place in quebec, and I was going to get him back.
Meanwhile 659 miles away, My husband was having problems with his landlord, and his neighbor, and decided to let jack stay with his sister so that he wouldn’t have to fear eviction. (I don’t know if you recall that jack was a stray that we took in, We lived in a “no pets allowed” apartment but since he was a pit bull we couldn’t bring him to the animal shelter, and we never found his owners)
I didn’t find out till awhile later. Everything gets hazy from here, but I constantly let his sister know that I was working towards getting him back. Constantly. like every day. Turns out, She didn’t give a shit.
A few weeks ago, I logged on to facebook to see pictures of my dog looking very sick/half dead. I was absolutely stunned. Nobody had told me he was sick, and from the way they were talking, he had been so for weeks.
Just as worrying was how my sister in law was saying she had adopted him. Wait what?! I KNEW I just read that wrong. Usually when you adopt a dog…. you..you know, get permission from their owner and stuff right? Right?! Apparently not.
I sent her a message saying that I would pay for any and all care, as after all, he was my dog. I was met back with silence. All the while she was talling people that he was her dog. I was absolutely floored. Not only was I freaking out that he was sick, and nobody seemed to know why, I was freaking out over what she was saying, and I was getting no answers.
Turns out, that Even though we took him to be vaccinated, the vet either screwed up or neglected to give him what we had asked for. They found out he had parvo. He is now out of the woods, He is safe and happy, and he will be fine, But since we had never gotten him registered, (again, the stray thing, although I had begged my husband to do it, MULTIPLE times) His sister went ahead and registered Jack in her name.
My heart dog was stolen from me because of a shitty set of circumstances… Oh and breed specific legislation. He may not be murdered Like so many other pit bulls around the world, many of which were amazing animals that didn’t deserve it, But I will never see him again, and that is just as bad.
Can we abolish BSL already so that nobody ever has to give up an animal they love?
