Caine: A sad goodbye

Most of you have already heard the news that our dear beloved Caine was put to sleep this morning. I happened to stop by around 9:30am and was able to say a last goodbye to the dog that had become my friend over the last year and a half.

For those of you who didn't know Caine, he was a solid white Pit Bull. He came to us in September of 2005 after his owner, who was being arrested at the time, tried to sic him on the cops. But our Caine was smart and did not go after the cops, instead he ended up at the shelter with about 50 lbs of logging chain wrapped around his neck.

It took a few weeks before any of us could even go near him to walk him or even be able to just have him out of the kennel, but once he was able to be out we found that he was a very fun-loving dog that just wanted attention and a good belly rub every now and then. Over the next few months Caine kind of became a permanent fixture. We would take him out play with him a little outside and then bring him back into the office or Education room so he could relax for most of the day until going back into his kennel at night.

After many months and two court cases, Caine was unfortunately returned to his original owner, who once again put him on a chain outside. In December, only two months after Caine had been returned to his owner, we learned that the owner was now in prison again and Caine and a female pit had both escaped their enclosure and were running around downtown Pulaski. Shay was the first to say that he had spotted Caine, but with a choice between Shay and the female Caine decided to run off with the female (I guess shay just didn't have that animal magnetism, sorry Shay). A few weeks later Joyce was able to catch him, well actually she called him and he jumped into the front seat of her truck, maybe he just likes females better. On the way to the shelter Julie came over the intercom and Caine's ears perked up, happy to hear a familiar voice I'm sure. As we searched for an appropriate home for this big lovable dog, Caine settled back into shelter life like he had never left.

Again we all got use to taking him out and then letting him spend the day wandering from the office to the education room to sleep on the couch. Finally we thought we had found a nice home for him. His new home turned out to be a very nice one, he was allowed to sleep on a nice comfy couch and get petted all the time. Unfortunately the aggression that was no doubt instilled from his previous owners resurfaced and after two months his new owners were afraid he might hurt someone. So Julie was asked to come pick him up.

On March 26, 2007 Caine was humanely euthanized surrounded by people that loved him and will never forget him, at least I know I won't. I hope I have done his memory justice with this post and if you feel I have left anything out please feel free to add your own thoughts as I know he will be missed by many of us.