katneko

This entry dedicated to the wrongful and preventable death of my two dogs.

This was written in my journal-journal roughly a month ago, on Febuary 13th, 2005:

My dogs down in Florida, Jetta and Harley, were killed by pesticides spraying done by Terminex. The bug-sprayers told my mother that because they were bombing the upstairs rooms and had them completely sealed off, the dogs would be fine as long as they didn't go up there. They had problems with the sprayings not being effective FIVE TIMES, so this sixth time, they had a field manager out with the regular exterminator. THE FIELD MANAGER confirmed, after my mother asked him several times, if the dogs would be okay downstairs. So, my mother left them downstairs. When the bug people were done and the poison was all cleared out, the dogs seemed fine. 24 hours later, one was in a coma, the other was puking and shitting uncontrollably. They took both dogs to the vet. Harley (the one in a coma) was given breathing tubes, and the vet attempted to restart her heart but couldn't, so she died. Jetta, my favorite dog ever, had her stromach pumped three times...appeared to be doing fine, and then relapsed and was brought back to the hospital. My mother wouldn't go into details with me about it, but said Jetta was suffering so much and was so far gone that they put her to sleep.

Their cat, who I don't like, was on the porch outside. She obviously, was not affected.

They died on Tuesday. Jetta was a pomeranian. Harley was a sheltie. Jetta, the one who suffered the most, was my favorite dog ever. They were afraid of telling me, but then thought maybe Emily or Brandi might post it on their LJ's, so finally told me about an hour ago.

I cannot even describe how angry I am at the fucking exterminators for telling my mothers that it would be OKAY to LEAVE THE DOGS IN THE HOUSE. I keep thinking of Jetta & Harley, and I cannot stop crying. I asked my mother if I could bring her to Wisconsin back in December. We've had Jetta since I was 17.

My mother asked for the exterminator to pay for the vet bills and to not charge for the work. They called her seven times to say they were sorry, and then when she finally requested this, they demanded proof that it was their fault via autopsy on the dogs. She gave them the blood samples and results, but they said it was not enough. She told them, "If you make me cut up my dogs, I'm going to sue the fuck out of you", and they told her to cut up her dogs, so she's got some lawyers name and will be calling on Monday.

It's been a month. My mother has been in contact with the vice-president of Terminex, who has promised to pay the vet bills but who has not yet delivered, offering up about a thousand excuses as to why there is a delay. In the meantime, my mother submitted an article to a magazine called "Florida Pet Pages", and the story is currently in circulation.

Even a month later, it's extremely sad that the dogs had to die in such a preventable way. I'm looking forward to my stay in Florida come this Sunday, but it's going to be really hard in the absence of Jetta and Harley.