Paws for a Cause

WRITTEN BY PAULETTE DEAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DANVILLE HUMANE SOCIETY

Every year on Valentine’s Day (or around that date, if his Army duties took him to field maneuvers on the 14th), our daddy would bring home three boxes of candy. The largest one would be for Mother. Susan and I would get our own smaller ones.

On Valentine’s Day in 1962, we lived in Manhattan, Kansas, when Daddy was stationed at Fort Riley. He brought home a huge candy box that did not have the top completely secure. In the box was a puppy. Times were different then, and he told us he bought the puppy from a man who said she was a coyote mix. We named her Taffy because she was the color of soft, cream taffy.

The snows of Kansas taught us that having a puppy is not always easy. Wrapped in warm coats and scarves, we took turns walking Taffy on a leash.

Taffy did not live long. One night, only a few weeks after she came to live with us, she started having seizures. I remember being shielded from the sight of most of them, but what I saw I cannot forget.

After taking my sister and me to school the next morning, Mother took Taffy to the veterinary clinic at Kansas State University. She was diagnosed with distemper, a disease that was common then. The veterinarian told Mother that

even if Taffy survived this, she would always have the effects of the disease. He said that he would not want to subject young daughters to seeing a beloved pet suffer horribly throughout life. Mother opted for euthanasia.

I remember Mother picking me up from school that day and telling me Taffy died. It was not until years later I find out she had been euthanized.

This story speaks to me of love. The sweet memories of Daddy showing his love on Valentine’s Day with boxes of candy, and then one year, a box with a puppy in it, warmed a little girl’s heart. Taffy was my first dog, and I loved her.

Decades later, though, this story is also a story of parental love. Our parents did not want to expose us to the harsh reality of seeing a dog suffer through horrible seizures. It also becomes a story of the ultimate kindness and final act of love that pet guardians can offer — a humane release from pain and suffering.

Although Valentine’s Day has become a very commercial, expensive holiday, dreaded by single people (me), because I experienced the Valentine’s Day of 1962, it also reminds me of the many facets of loving an animal and the sheer joy of loving them. Losing them to death is very sad, but oh, the joy of sharing our lives with them can become warm memories.