In Memory Of Skittles
My story has as many dimensions and colors like a rainbow, which is appropriate considering they call me Skittles now. As a ten week old Labrador retriever mix the major difference between me and most other dogs is my illness. I was diagnosed with Pulmonic Stenosis. My short life has been filled with much heartbreak.
It all started when my mother gave birth to a litter of puppies. Her cruel owners did not want to keep any of my brothers, sisters, or I. They let us go into the streets and we had to try and live on our own. Thankfully some generous person found me and brought me to a shelter. That was the last I ever saw of my brothers and sisters. If it was not for the person who picked me up, I probably would not be alive right now. It emotionally hurts to know that someone did not want to take care of me or give me a home to live in. Fortunately I was not living on my own for a while or else I would most likely have been hurt physically as well.
I was diagnosed with something called Pulmonic stenosis at the shelter Precious Friends in Tennessee. Pulmonic stenosis is heart disease where there is a narrowing of a pulmonary vessel that constricts blood flow. This pretty much means I don’t have enough blood flow to my lungs. I also have an upper respiratory infection, causing further stress inside my chest. Most days I feel like any other healthy dog, but others I feel sick as if I just don’t have any energy in me anymore. I was born in Tennessee and lived in an incredibly small and crowded shelter there. The workers there told me that I would eventually have to be moved to a bigger shelter so that I could get the proper care I needed to survive. They said that if an advanced shelter could not take me in I didn’t have much of a chance of being awake much longer. The thought of not being able to live my life made me extremely depressed but when I heard that a new shelter called North Shore Animal League America in New York could take me in, I felt so much healthier already!
North Shore Animal League America saved my life. It’s the largest animal rescue and adoption organization in the whole world. If it was not for them, my chances at living would have been extremely slim. At North Shore Animal League America I’m a member of “Help me Heal.” Help me heal is a program which takes care of an innumerable number of cats and dogs no matter what their sickness is. North Shore Animal League has the nicest people to help me, great food and has given me a second chance at life.
From now on it looks like I have a bright future ahead of me! When the surgery is finished I can start my new and happy “puppy life.” Every six months for the rest of my life I’ll have to get cardiograms to make sure everything is going well inside of me. I’ll also have to get heart medication in the future, which does not bother me though because at least I won’t be sick anymore. The only thing left that I need in my future is to have a home I can go to where people care about me.
My story has been filled with much heartbreak but thankfully that will end soon. After my stenosis surgery I will be just like any other puppy. Now all I need is for someone to adopt me!
- Melissa D’Esposito
