Why losing a dog can be harder than losing a relative or friend

Recently, my wife and I went through one of the more excruciating experiences of our lives – the euthanasia of our beloved dog, Murphy. I remember making eye contact with Murphy moments before she took her last breath – she flashed me a look that was an endearing blend of confusion and the reassurance that everyone was ok because we were both by her side.

When people who have never had a dog see their dog-owning friends mourn the loss of a pet, they probably think it’s all a bit of an overreaction; after all, it’s “just a dog.”

However, those who have loved a dog know the truth: Your own pet is never “just a dog.”

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WONDERFUL

Judy, the prisoner of war (AMAZING - MUST READ) - UPDATE

Judy was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific, was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp, there she met Leading Aircraftsman Frank Williams who shared his small portion of rice with her. Judy raised morale in the POW camp giving alarm when poisonous snakes, crocodiles and even tigers approached.

She was smuggled out in a rice sack when the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she never whimper or betrayed her presence to the guards.

The next day the ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15 feet drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship, not knowing if Judy had survived. Frank Williams was recaptured and was sent to a new camp without news of Judy's survival. However, stories began being told of a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris on which to hold.Williams was giving up hope of finding Judy when she arrived in his new camp. "I couldn’t believe my eyes. As I entered the camp, a scraggy dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over! I’d never been so glad to see the old girl. They spent a year in Sumatra.

"She saved my life in so many ways. The greatest way of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look at her and into those weary, bloodshot eyes and I would ask myself: What would happen to her if I died? I had to keep going. Even if it meant waiting for a miracle.

Once hostilities ceased, Judy was smuggled aboard a troopship heading to Liverpool. She was awarded the Dickin Medal, "the animals' VC", in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness". At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles, the highest award possible, for his devotion to Judy.

Frank and Judy spent the year after the war visiting the relatives of PoWs who hadn't survived; Frank remarked that Judy always seemed to give a comforting presence.Judy died at the age of 13. Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory,which included a plaque which told of her life story.

 Photo:PDSA

Please take a moment to visit the memorial pages created when Frank Williams (Senior) passed away in 2003. Besides learning about this gentleman's life, you will learn about the amazing story of his friendship and adventures with Judy, an English Pointer, during and after World War II. Interest in this story of love and courage lead to conversations with movie creators who are hoping to bring the story to film over the next few years. This includes fund raising to provide the capital necessary to bring the story to the screen.

THE JUDY PROJECT

UPDATE: Life as a POW

SHOCK: United Airlines employees kicked disabled vet's service dog...twice!

This happened at Dulles Airport in Washington. These employees should be charged with a crime and dismissed. This is not acceptable!

Sarge, his service dog, was kicked once at the ticket counter and then once again on a shuttle.

And that's not the only shocking thing that happened:

Jim said the stress was overwhelming and asked a customer service representative for help because he had trouble reading a reservation email.

"He said, 'Just read it' and I said, 'Sir I can't read it,' and he said, 'What are you retarded?'" Jim recalls. "Prior to this I told him I have a brain injury and PTSD, I'm a disabled vet, this is my second night here; I need help."

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THE DOG

“With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chill peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy)...” --Obama ("Dreams From My Father")

A Sign - Not Photoshopped: Beam of Light Shines on Fallen Soldier’s Miracle Dog

Reported by ABC News’ Kimberly Launier:

It was an overcast day in Newport, N.H., when a simple “20/20″ shoot turned into something that made me wonder about life after death.

Me too!

HAT TIP: Lucianne.com

A dog...a marine...a miracle!

Leftists: You only THINK you like the government...

Early (way too early) this morning, my dog decided to kill a skunk. Oh, the humanity! My first instinct was to just throw it in the trash. It really, really, really stunk. So, I thought about it, and horribly thought, "Gee, I should call animal control to get rid of this thing."

I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I have learned, and I promise I will never, ever do so again.

So, I called animal control, and the moron who answered the phone blathered on until he talked to "an officer." Then he said that the officer would be out "to investigate." She came out (about 8 hours later) and took a report. Yes, the dog had a current rabies shot. No, I don't know anything about the skunk. Sure, go ahead and send the head off for rabies check. Everything was fine.

Three hours later, the phone rang.

The "investigator" was calling. She suddenly explained that they were not going to send the head off to determine if it had rabies (I didn't care, because the dog had his shots). But, oh, by the way -- I had three days to get a booster shot for the dog. And by the way, on Monday (this all happened on Saturday), the department would be following up to check on the rabies information I had provided them.

In other words, the call, as I interpreted it:

"You have three days to pay money to get another state-mandated shot, despite already having the state-mandated shot. If you do not, you will be jailed. And we are going to investigate you on Monday to determine if you already have the state-mandated shot. If the number you provided us does not match our records, we will also jail you."

Holy friggin crap.

I plan on doing not a damn thing on Monday. I already vaccinated my damn dog. If the damn vaccination isn't any good, why the hell did I vaccinate the dog? If the damn state wants to come take my dog, I will resist them. If they want to friggin arrest and jail me for not paying for a "booster" shot for the damn vaccination I already paid a state-mandated fee for, they can damn well arrest me. If the sorry-ass "animal investigator" calls me, I'm not answering the damn phone. If the sheriff shows up, he can stand outside and suck eggs until he breaks down my damn door over a damn "booster" shot.

Government really, really sucks. I've always known it, but this is more than enough for me. I've known government sucks, but this is I guess what it takes to make it personal.

I have to classify myself as an anarchist, if this is what government looks like.

I ain't seen no dog yet...

Yippeee! Obama's trying to get more Muslim Agents, er Americans to work in his cabinet. (Wonder why so many regular Americans have dropped out already?)

"It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put (the president) in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community."

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Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs