Your Pet Loss Stories

by Christopher Cunningham
(Belington, W.V)

August 1993 my brother and I were working in downtown Philippi, W.V. We saw a guy throw something into the river and we went to see what it was. We spotted a sack in the river. I dove into the water to retrieve the sack. In it was 9 puppies! We took the puppies home and after a few weeks we had found homes for all of them except one. I decided we should keep him and named him Roscoe Cunningham.

lived in a little house on a small farm that was owned by a friend. I didn't tell my friend about Roscoe. He didn't like dogs at all. So, everywhere I went I took Roscoe with me. I used to take him hunting with me and he grew accustomed to going with me every time I went somewhere. My friend found out about him not long after I decided to keep him. My friend threw us out of his rental house all because of his hatred towards dogs. Roscoe was a great hunting companion to me. He was attacked by a possum, shot, I dug him out of many rabbit holes, and too many times we slept out in the cold.

My brother begged me to let him take care of Roscoe while I was out trying to make a living. So, for a short time period I let him have Roscoe. Years later I found that my brother had been mistreating Roscoe. I took Roscoe home with me, again. I had hit a rough patch in my life and I had to move in with my mother. She had two dogs in her home and did not want Roscoe in the house. So, I tied him up outside to a dog house. After several months I met a beautiful lady who loved dogs and we soon were married.

A couple days after we were married I asked her if Roscoe could come home with us. I went and picked Roscoe up from my mothers house and took him home. He was introduced to my wife, Pam, and her two children, Angela and Lee. That was in July of 1999. He was loved from the beginning by all of them. Then in November of 2004 we had a new baby come into the house. His name was Jedidiah! Roscoe loved Jedidiah and would follow us around when we were caring for Jedidiah.

July of 2012 Roscoe started to show signs of his age. He couldn't hop on my bed any longer. He had difficulties climbing up and down the stairs. My wife and I had to carry him and put him on our bed. Then he started having problems falling off my bed.

February 21, 2013 Roscoe fell out of the bed where I was laying. He had a stroke, but at the time it did not appear to be serious. He laid for a few minutes then got up and walked to his kennel in my bedroom. February 22, 2013 I arrived home from work. I noticed that Roscoe was having difficulties walking, standing, and would walk into things. I picked him up and noticed that he was drooling severely, shaking uncontrollably, and was peeing as he walked. I carried him down the stairs and put him on the floor. I noticed he stumbled and had loss of balance. I told my wife that I thought Roscoe would be deceased soon of natural causes.

That afternoon I had gotten up to go get my youngest son from the bus. I picked up Roscoe and realized that he was unable to walk and movements were few. I called the vet and advised her as to Roscoe's condition. She requested I bring him up for a check up. After picking up my son, we went to the vets office. The veterinarian came in and examined Roscoe. She gave him a sedative to calm his spasms. She advised that Roscoe needed to be put to sleep.

After returning home with Roscoe, My wife, Jedidiah, and I went to my mom's house. My mom's husband picked out a nice spot and I buried Roscoe there. My wife gave a rosebush to put on Roscoe's grave and we wrapped him in my son's baby blanket.