Belle
In Loving Memory
Belle was a beautiful little 5 year old Chihuahua girl that was turned over to us from a puppy mill breeder. We can only imagine the horror and despair that Belle experienced in her 5 years as a breeding dog – she was terrified of humans and human contact. Just trying to get close to her, you could see her whole body tremble and shake with fear.
Melissa was Belle’s devoted foster mom and she was able to get Belle to accept her somewhat, but unfortunately Belle still spent most of her time in a terrified state. She was so afraid of humans that she frequently had fear aggression – often contact with Belle would invoke growling, barking and sometimes a bite. Other times she would cower and tremble with fear. The damage done to her psyche at the puppy mill was too severe.
Some puppy mill dogs have the capability to come around and accept human touch and attention – we have had many success stories and these dogs have become loving, devoted pets and members of families.
Unfortunately, Belle’s story does not have a happy ending. Based on her high level of fear aggression, we came to the realization that Belle would not be able to come around. Her quality of life was so poor – everything and everyone terrified her. We had to make a decision that is very hard to do, but we knew we had exhausted all possible avenues with Belle. We also had to consider her quality of life and what it must be like to live in continual fear.
Belle’s sad, terrifying story came to an end when we made that hard decision to have her euthanized. Although it was extremely difficult, we knew in our hearts that we had done everything we could for her and that this was the best thing to do. We gave Belle the greatest gift of love by ending her misery.
Thank you Melissa for giving it all you had to make Belle’s last days ones of comfort, warmth and love.
