Our Scariest Day

Our lil family went through quite a scare on Saturday! A. and I decided to venture down a block for some lunch. We were both being picky and indecisive, but final selected the Dogwood Deli. Due to lack of seating, we took our sandwiches home to dine on the front porch. The day was just lovely: sun shining; cool breeze; neighbors milling about; Keba chilling with us on the front porch. But, all the sudden A. went into scream-mode with "Stay, Stay!", however Keba's merry self sauntered down the front porch steps, then A.'s screams increased and his voice changed into a voice I have never heard before...Then, I saw the cause.

There was a woman, about my age, walking with her TWO pit bull dogs. I froze, A. screamed more, and Keba began to detect his master's fear. He turned his head back to A. to see why he can't say "Hi!" to the dogs walking down his sidewalk. As he turned to judge the seriousness of A.'s scream (and they were blood-chilling), one of the TWO pits launched and bit into Keba's neck! OH MY GOD! I was still frozen on the porch, but now A. was punching the dog, screaming, the pit owner was screaming, neighbors were gathering and screaming. I finally realized that this dog may kill my essence of pure joy--my puppy--and I joined the fight. Through teary eyes I hooked onto Keba's collar and pleaded for the pit to give me my dog back. This evil pit seemed to have Keba's ear and much of his lower cheek tightly secured in his jaw. OH MY DOG!

A kind neighbor, who was gardening with a smile moments before, grabbed his shovel and began to smack, with the shovel's edge, the pit on the head. This sound haunts me still. There seemed to be no releasing my beloved pet. Then, like an angel, a woman appeared out of thin air, and dropped a bucket of water in the middle of the chaos. This freed the pit's jaw a bit and since all of my body, mind and soul was desperately trying to pull Keba for clutches of this horrific jaw (I was more than willing to give the pit Keba's ear in exchange for my puppy back), I launched backward with Keba in my lap. I scooped him up, ran him inside and couldn't stop his tears or mine. We hugged, cried and shook while A. talked to the girl with the TWO pit bulls.

When A. came inside, after chatting with the pit-owner, we knew we had to drive to the Animal Hospital, even though neither of us was prepared for another one of life's curveballs...Keba did seem fine at this point, but better to be safe, right? Right! Keba's cheek, extremely close to his eye and throat, was seriously cut. There was much blood hiding under his deep golden fur. But, we braced ourselves as the vet explained that Keba needed to stay the night, be put under anesthesia for many stitches and a drain had to be attached to avoid infection. We said our teary-eyed goodbye's and left him for the night.

We woke super early on Sunday to bring Keba home. Showerless and decaffeinated, we drove up Falls Road to bring our baby home. Neither of us was ready for the mangled cheek we were about to see, the teary fur from his night-long cries or the sad look in his eyes, but I guess nothing can prepare one for such hardship. We thanked and thanked the vet, gently lifted Keba into our borrowed ride and took him home.

He will heal physically, and we are keeping our fingers crossed for mentally. He is not perky yet, hating the Elizabethan collar and seems slightly more aloof than normal. He is on pain pills and antibiotics and has an uncountable amount of stitches. OH MY!!