When we adopt a dog we know that, eventually, we will have to say goodbye. I've had over a dozen dogs in my life. Usually more than one at a time. The heartbreak of having them put to sleep or the shock and horror of seeing them killed on the highway are among the hardest things I've ever endured. Some people respond by refusing to get a dog so they never have that experience. On the other hand they never feel the joy and love of a dog and a dog never has the joy of and comfort of a loving person to care for them. A decade or so of the love, joy, comfort and companionship of a dog are not cancelled by the sorrow of the loss of your friend. When I remember my dogs it's never how they died, it's how they lived and the things that made each of them special.
