And the lesson learned is….

For this, we return to the late 1960s. I was a veterinary nurse in a very large practice at the time and the following was one of those bizarre incidents that happen just once in a lifetime.

In those days morning surgery was usually between 8.30 am and 10.30 am and this would be followed by a mid-morning cup of tea which in turn was followed by the day’s surgical procedures.

On the morning in question as we were taking the tea break and an extremely distressed gentleman arrived with a truly handsome Golden Retriever and asked if we would put his dog to sleep.

As I have stated previously the Golden Retriever was the breed of choice in those days for families as it was considered to be a particularly gentle, good-natured dog.

His story was as follows. His 6-year-old son was on the sofa with the dog when the boy clambered on top of the dog and without any warning, the much-loved family pet had snapped, missing the lads face by inches.

The anguished father brought the dog in and explained that he could not risk having his son injured, after all, next time it might be a bite.

Today such an incident would probably lead to suggestions regarding seeing a behaviourist or if nothing else a large number of questions would be asked but in those days any dog showing aggression to children was considered to be unstable and an unacceptable risk. The distraught dad felt he had no choice despite the dog’s previous impeccable behaviour and also thought that he could not re-home it if there was any risk of this behaviour occurring in the future.

The upshot was that he departed leaving his dog with us, his distress evident and it fell to me to prepare the necessary equipment for euthanasia. A 20cc syringe with the appropriate drug, the appropriate size needle and a small piece of cotton wool soaked in alcohol to flatten the hair around the injection site. With the dog on the table, the duty veterinary surgeon was called to administer the lethal injection. As he entered the room the unmistakable sound of a police siren was heard in the car park. This heralded the arrival of the victim of a road accident, in this case, a beautiful Rough Collie which in those days was known as a Lassie collie and is still called this sometimes today

The Golden Retriever was placed in a kennel as the injured Collie was now the priority patient. Fortunately, the injuries were not as bad as first thought. A complete examination revealed that most of the blood around the facial area was from a cut to the dog’s tongue which as anyone who has experienced it will know canine tongues when damaged bleed profusely. The other injuries were superficial and the blood and debris that caked his fur was the result of being under a vehicle. So his wounds were dressed and with a good clean up the lucky Collie was reunited with her very tearful owner and the focus returned to the Golden Retriever.

With the dog on the table and the veterinary surgeon, syringe in hand, preparing to administer the fatal drug the practice secretary put her head around the door and asked if we had euthanized the Retriever. No, we replied we are doing it now. “Stop” she implored she had the owner on the phone and he now knows what happened.

While we were dealing with injured Collie the owner of the Retriever and his wife had been standing in their kitchen trying to work out how they were going to explain to their 6-year-old son why his beloved pet was no longer around. The father then went into the lounge sat on the sofa and leapt into the air as he felt a shape stabbing pain in his backside. Closer examination showed that there was a broken spring in the seat. This sort of furniture would not be available now but in those days they were very heavy and built to last a lifetime. The distraught dad realised what had caused their much-loved family to react in the way that he had and immediately rang the practice in the vain hope that his dog might still be alive knowing that he had been told that the procedure would be done without delay. A careful examination of the dog’s body showed a tiny penetration site invisible under the Retrievers thick coat. The father also realised that the family dog had not intended to harm his son and was only reacting to the pain he was suffering. With his son on top of the dog, the pet had nowhere to escape.

For the second time that day, I witnessed the emotional reunion of a dog and owner and a valuable lesson was learned.

Things are not always what they appear to be!