Requiem for a sad little puppy

On Sunday, while walking my dogs, I saw a bedraggled looking pup curled up on a neighbor's lawn. He didn't hardly move -- just watched us as we walked by. And my dogs just ignored him. I could tell that he was a stray. He had no collar and was listless, skinny, and raggedy looking.

I told Gina about him when I got home and she went out and picked him up and brought him home. I could then see what really bad shape this poor dog was in. He looked to be very young, had big paws - maybe he was a lab or shepherd mix. It was hard to tell because he only had a little bit of fur. Most of his body was covered in scabs and his skin was raw and red. I hadn't seen all that when he was curled up. It was pathetic, and looked quite painful. Yet this pup, who had clearly never been taken care of by humans, continuously kissed Gina. It broke my heart.

We decided to take him to the Humane Society. The intake clerk took one look at him and explained that they would take him, hold him for 3 days, and then euthanize him. He was not adoptable. She said I'd have to pay $20 for them to take him and I could not come back and reclaim him. Gina & I discussed the possibility of taking him back home and seeing if our vet might be able to cure him. The cost we knew would be enormous. And we would have to keep him in the garage or out on the porch in a crate because there's no way he could stay in our house. I asked the clerk what she thought we should do and she just shrugged. Finally, we decided to leave him. I paid the $20 and we left.

That was 3 days ago, so I presume he's now gone. Gina and I have both dreamed about him and I have thought of him in my waking hours over and over. I don't know that we did the right thing. Perhaps we should have at least tried to get a prognosis from Dr. May and then allowed him to euthanize him if it was a hopeless cause.