Published Oakville Beaver Thursday October 14, 2010

I knew an angel and her name was Trixie.

We found each other at the Humane Society Sept. 9, 1999.

July 27, 1999, I had witnessed my 5 year old dog, Bear, die in front of me while returning home from a walk. A beautiful dog that unknown to anyone had a blood clot .One minute he was fine and the next minute he was gone. He was my best friend.

This put me into a horrible depression. I tried pet loss groups, reading on pet grief on my own and finally medication. Nothing was working.

I was not able to go to work. One of my clients heard of my loss through the company I worked for and found my home address in the phone book. He arrived at my door one day and persuaded me to go to the humane society. I told him nothing would replace the pain and emptiness I felt. He told me that he was looking to adopt a cat and perhaps I could accompany him. He looked at me with these sad eyes and I finally consented to go.

That is when I spotted Trixie. All the other dogs were barking and wagging their tails. Trixie had eyes of despair. She lay in her cage, chunks of fur were missing on her body.

When I inquired about her condition, I was told they found her wandering around. They did not know her age or her name or anything about her background. When I asked about the missing fur, I was told it was stress related. I was told that she was a mix of lab and perhaps Portuguese water dog. This is all they knew about her.

I was not ready to open my heart again but at the same time I could not turn by back on what I had seen. I took her home and named her Trixie.

My heart opened up again.

I cried with pity when I saw this angel hiding food because of the fear I would forget to feed her. (I made sure her food and water bowl were NEVER empty)

I cried with pity when I saw that I had to open cupboard doors very carefully because she had the fear of being hit with the cupboard.

I cried with pity when people tried to pet her on our walks only to see her dive down to protect herself. She had intense fear of being hit by the hands reaching to touch her.

I was told by many people that met her that she would never be ok. Well, Trixie was more than ok. One year later she thrived. We healed each other.

Dec. 20,2000 was the year my daughter was born. Trixie decided she wanted to be a baby monitor. How she managed to wiggle under the crib was an incredible feat. The minute she heard a whimper, she crawled out to get me. There was not a jealous bone in her body.

My daughter attended Trafalgar Ridge Montessori school at the age of 2 ½. This wonderful school, hatched chickens, a duck and wild turkey from an incubator.

We had the following weekend visitors at our house. Five baby chickens. A duck named Hercules. A beautiful male and female pair of baby wild turkeys. We had the school rabbit, Stewart, and the guinea pig, Monti also come for a weekend visit. All our visitors had the ability to walk freely in our home. Trixie was happy to have the company and adored them all. I noticed her sadness when it was time for them to go home.

As a result, we adopted Benjimin Bunny. A beautiful New Jersey Woolie Bunny.

Then came 3 more bunnies, Charles, Honeybunny and Fiona. A combination of Humane Society and rabbit rescue. I litter trained our new family members. Trixie was happy with the extended family. They became her friends.

I questioned how a dog that was so incredibly abused could turn into the most gentle soul I have ever encountered. She cried when I had to put any of the bunnies in a pet carrier to bring them in for veterinary care. She didn’t want to see them go. When I came home I learned I had to remove the bunny from the pet carrier before taking off my shoes. Trixie, put up a fuss and wanted them out immediately.

I have memories of giving the rabbits treats and then seeing Trixie standing behind me. I would look at her and say, “Trixie, come on. Do you really think I would not give you one too.!” I would reach into a jar and grab a couple of chicken flavoured milkbones.

I would place a couple on the ground for her and to my astonishment, there would be 2 bunnies running and grabbing the milkbones. I would wrestle them away from the bunnies since it would make them sick. What do you say about a dog that allows this to happen without any retaliation? You call this dog an angel.

Trixie, was sick last winter and to my amazement, honeybunny came up to her and laid down beside Trixie. There they lay side by side Prey and Predator offering comfort to each other. I was happy to have had the opportunity to witness this and to have been able to take a picture.

This June, I was waiting to cross the road to take Trixie to the park for a walk. She decided she did not want to wait for the cars to pass and managed with lightening speed to wiggle out of her collar and dash across the road. A car hit her. Trixie’s veterinarian called her the miracle dog. She pulled through and survived. She seemed to recover but then suddenly started to develop a cough. The cough was terrible at night. Xrays were taken once again and a big tumour was discovered in her lung. I was told that surgery would most likely kill her. Medication was tried. It made her throw up and pant and shake uncontrollably. Trixie stopped eating. I tried over and over again to offer her her favourite foods to no avail. Trixie got to the point where laying down was painful. She would stand since it was easier for her to breathe. Eventually she got tired of standing and would fall to her elbows. I kept hoping and hoping for a miracle. I was told her condition would only get worse. Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010 I made the painful decision to put this angel named Trixie to sleep. This letter is in recognition to this absolutely wonderful Oakville Resident whose name was Trixie. She is deeply missed by me, my daughter and her rabbit family. She will never be forgotten.

Sincerely,

Ingrid Babjak