My Sweet Baby Girl

by Ronald
(Harford County, Maryland )

On February 24th, 2014, Animal Control of Harford County, Maryland, got a report of a hound mix that had been hit by a garbage truck. They were chasing her, whom they named Angelica Pickles, down Magnolia Road and into my Sector where I'm a Police Officer.

I helped them get her and I stated to the Animal Control Agent that if no one came for her and she has some quality of life left, I would adopt her. So about 30 days later we got the call that they were going to put her down because she was unadoptable, but we adopted her anyway. The Humane Society and we were very happy.

Pickles, as we shortened her name to, had a lot of issues. She had a bad heart, a benign tumor, very bad arthritis throughout her body, and eventually she couldn't move her rear legs. But with all this, she was still happy and a loving sweet baby girl.

The Vet said she was about 11 when we adopted her. We had her for two and a half wonderful years. The Vet said she was fine as long as we didn't mind doing all the stuff to take care of her, which we loved to do for her. She was the best dog we could ever ask for.

We loved her so much and she us. I miss her more than anything in the world. We had to put her down on 16 September 2016. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I don't know if we would have waited, if the Vet could have done anything else or not. We took her to the Vet every month for blood work and checkups. She did great for a couple of years.

It seemed like the night we had her put to sleep, she was telling us she was ready. She spit out her medicine and put her head down.

Even knowing this, I feel so guilty for putting My Sweet Baby Girl down. She had so many medical issues, but was still so happy that she was loved. I didn't want her to suffer anymore though. She taught me so much and I hope to God I'll see her again one day.

I love and miss her more than life itself.