A little over 2 years ago, I was sitting by my friend’s pool on a Saturday night when I got an urgent email from a local rescue. Animal Control had picked up an extremely emaciated dog and was hoping to find rescue for her. In her condition, their initial reaction was to euthanize her. but she was so sweet, the kennel manager wanted to give her a chance.
I’ll admit, I was a smidgen inebriated when I talked my husband into fostering her.
The next day, my husband went to pick her up. Some friends of mine were over when he brought her home. It was absolutely heartbreaking. She was so weak, she could barely stand.
Originally named “Sasha Fierce”, as this gal was going to have to dig deep and find some strength to survive her ordeal, eventually it was shortened to Sachi, which interestingly means “Child of Joy” in Japanese.
Sachi was never adopted. She gathered very little interest on Petfinder, possibly because of her unusual looks. The other challenge was that Sachi is a brat. She picks fights with other dogs on leash, she can’t be around cats or small animals, she is rowdy and strong which meant small kids were out. We brought her along to many meet and greets and she never did well.
When we moved to Texas, there were no other foster home options for Sachi, so we took her with us. We weren’t kidding ourselves that she would be adopted here, we just accepted that we’d rescued this dog and we were stuck with her. We loved her, and we were willing to make the best of the situation. Unfortunately, this meant our poor cats had to live confined to a single room, to avoid being used as a living chew toy. We have to keep our chihuahua in the bathroom when Sachi is in the house, to keep her safe.
Last week, through a series of mishaps, Sachi killed one of our goats. I wish I could say this is the first situation of this type, but it’s not. Sachi was involved in an attack on a sickly Maltese we had adopted, and he did not survive. I can guarantee she was also involved, if not the instigator of, an attack on my English Bulldog that left her in shock and close to death. She has attacked my chihuahua, and two of my cats (before they were segregated).
As anyone with a challenging pet knows, we did whatever we could to eliminate the potential for Sachi to hurt one of our animals. Our house is a maze of baby gates, and we keep her separated from the pets that set her off. We have rearranged our lives, and negatively impacted our other pets to care for this dog.
Her behavior is not necessarily her fault – she obviously is a very prey driven animal. This is her temperament. Her behavior can be managed, and obviously, we do. However, accidents happen, as last week’s incident illustrates. There are plenty of opportunities for accidents to happen, and I would never forgive myself if Sachi injured or killed someone else’s pet. Even worse – what if a person got injured trying to break up a fight between Sachi and another dog?
The death of the goat is the last straw. Sachi has proven time and again that she cannot live with us, in the life we had build before she even came along. She would probably do well in a single dog household, or maybe a 2 dog household, but she doesn’t greet other dogs well, so getting over the initial introduction would be a challenge. She’s extremely social with people, so living in a kennel/sanctuary environment is not an option either. I could try to find her a single dog family and stress to them the importance of the behavioral modification that we’ve done, but let’s be honest – people let their guards down, and horrific accidents happen. If we can’t be trusted to manage her at all times in all circumstances – who can?
For the safety of our family, for the safety of our neighbors and their pets, and to reduce the liability that owning Sachi creates in our lives, we’ll be letting her go on Friday. It’s a painful, terrible decision, but one that has been discussed in depth, since the very first incident.
As a dog owner, *I* am responsible for my dog’s behavior. As I tell people all the time – dogs don’t just “snap”. There’s a pattern of behavior that dog owners need to recognize. Sachi has shown me her innate temperament, and I simply can’t risk her hurting another animal again. It would be irresponsible of me to allow this behavior to continue.
So, we’ll make this last week her best. She’s been getting extra treats and snuggles, the coveted and almost NEVER obtained “people food”, and sleeping in bed with Mom and Dad. She’ll move on to the next place knowing the love of our family for the past 2 years, after whatever horrible treatment left her in her prior state. This decision has absolutely broken my heart, but it’s the right thing to do.
One Crazy Lady 