Today has been a rough one. Tom and I came home from work to find a note from the State Troopers telling us that two of our dogs (the beagles) had escaped from their kennel and been hit by a truck. Jake, our oldest beagle, was across the road (dead) and our other beagle, Spike, had been taken to the Vet Hospital. We went inside and called the hospital ASAP. We were told that they had to put Spike down - he was too badly injured to be saved by surgery. As if that weren’t bad enough, the vet had more news to share with us. She does not believe his injuries were caused by a vehicle. Based on his condition, which I really don’t have the heart to share right now, she believes he was killed by coyotes. Jake was most likely killed by the truck while sticking to his buddy Spike’s side as they tried to get home.

The images in my head are horrific. I just picture whining and crying and feelings of terror. It’s horrible. It makes my head hurt and heart ache.

Tomorrow we’ll go to the vet’s office to pick up Spike’s body. We’ll be burying him and Jake together. There’s no reason to separate them now - they were puppy dog pals to the end.

You know, I realize Jake and Spike were Tom’s dogs - he fed them, watered them, hunted with them - but it’s killing me to know that I won’t hear them howling anymore whenever I walk by their dog pen. I used to toss them a couple of eggs now and then, for being such good chicken coop guard dogs and now they won’t be there anymore to wag their tails and beg for just one more treat. It’s wrong. It’s so, so wrong.

I may be an animal lover, but I truly despise coyotes. I don’t care what comes naturally to them - I still abhor them. They suck. They really, really do.

Edited 05/07/07 - Added a couple of pictures that I found.

Spike wishing he could run thru all of that winter snow.

Jake giving us one of his silly smiles.