Stardate 020323

 Ohhhhh, here we go again. I swear to goodness if any of my old "subscribers" come upon these new entries, ya'll are gonna be dis-appointed....OK day at work. Couple surgeries here and there, did a euthanasia at the end of the day on a 9 year old GSD...I became Euthanasia certified last may. Its something that I have obviously been associated with since I entered the veterinary field. Usually the vets are the ones carrying out the actual procedure...but when we had drop off euth's often times, depending on the doctor, the technicians would actually perform the euthanasia, so I am no stranger to the process by any means. However, entering the shelter veterinary field, puts things alittle differently. We are seeing very sick, cold, newborn, animals and sometimes easing their suffering into death is the easiest and most humane thing we can do. When I first started at the shelter the Vet and one other person beyond ACO were allowed to perform such a procedure. And while attending a human society conference, it came to my attention that having that burden on one, or less people can be very weighing on that person, and the more people that can become certified/able to do it spreads it between more people....so me and two other employees became certified. This last year during our end of year counts I had performed 60 euthanasia's. That is 60 animals that I have ended their lives...Whether because of illness, age, etc...I do perform public euthanasias for people that either can't afford to do it through their vet, or can't get an appointment to get it done. I'm happy in the sense we are able to provide these services and ease the suffering, but I have had moments where i'm sure I am part serial killer or something. I could probably count on my hands the amount of times I have cried because of a euthanasia and they most likely are my own animals. Disconnecting myself from the animal and whats happening is the best way in my mind to deal with it. Even though there are some days that I think about it and I'm like, holy shit, I have literally KILLED this many animals.....Crazy thoughts, Crazy times. K, be back tomorrow.