I would like to share something that happened to me last week. I was never a dog lover. I liked them, but I could take them or leave them and then I met my husband and he had a Jack Russell terrier named Marty. My husband bought Marty when he was 6 weeks old and when we got married he was about 7. Soon after we married, Marty began to hang out with me more and more because my husband began to travel. After a little while we were inseparable, wherever I went, he went and my husband told me he was my dog now and he could not understand why, because a Jack Russell is a one owner dog. The little guy weaseled his way into my heart and pretty soon I was hooked. He was like a 4th child to me, part of our family. He went to work with me, slept with us, went on vacations with us and even took family pictures with us. How a human can love an animal so much, I am still unsure of. Anyways, last week we could not find Marty anywhere and it was not like him to run off. Finally my other dog located him under the barn and he had been attacked by something. He would not come out and we had to rip the barn floor out to get to him. His underneath was torn and split and did not look too good. Luckily our neighbor, works for a vet and was kind enough to come look at him and give him some shots. Unsure of the damage we took him to the vet the next day. The vet said he did not think anything major was damaged and to keep the wounds clean and give him some antibiotics, keep him hydrated and eating. The vet said he thought he would make it, but it would take a long time to heal. By Friday afternoon, Marty would no longer eat and was having to be hydrated from a dropper. By Sunday, it was not looking good, so after church we decided we needed to get him seen ASAP and get a second opinion, because we did not want our little guy to be suffering unnecessarily.

We went to Dr. Hick’s home and he was not there, so we left a message for him to call us. We were driving through Fairfield and it just so happened one of the local Fairfield vets was at his office so my husband pulled in. He explained to the doctor the situation and asked him if he could just take a couple of minutes and look at him and give us his opinion. The vet told him that he was too busy and to leave the dog there and he would look at him sometime tomorrow. My husband came back to the car and told me what the vet said and I was in disbelief. How can someone who is suppose to love animals enough to become a vet tell a person to just leave them and he will get around to it. As far as he knew the dog could have been on his death bed, but yet we are suppose to leave him in a strange place, with no one around, in a cage to possibly die and be unattended until Monday. I just could not believe this. I do realize it was Sunday and maybe a hassle, but isn’t that what vets are suppose to do, help sick animals, and to me this was my family member not just a dog.

We then decided to just go home and keep hydrating Marty until Monday came. Before we got out of Fairfield Dr. Hicks called us and told us to bring Marty to his house. We went over there and we brought Marty into his home and he cleared a kitchen counter to exam him on. Yes I said Dr. Hicks actually allowed my sick, gross smelling wounded dog into his home and to lie on his kitchen counter top where they prepare their food. I was astounded and very grateful for a man that actually loves animals enough to do this. He proceeded to tell us whatever harmed him wanted to kill him and it did not look good. We made the tough decision and asked Dr. Hicks if we should put him down to ease his suffering. He told us that was our decision, but he felt his organs were shutting down and the wound would most likely not heal because they could not stitch it up. I made one of the hardest decisions ever and decided to put him down, because he could not be helped anymore and I did not want him suffering. Dr. Hicks took us to his office and was so kind and compassionate and kept making sure that we absolutely wanted to put him down.

My family would like to give our deepest appreciation and thank you to Dr. Hicks for being kind and compassionate and taking time out of his Sunday to help with my sick family member. It is a relief in this day and time to find someone who takes their job to heart, even on Sunday and would help us make the best decision for our family and not just blow us off and tell us to just leave him and he would get around to it.

We would also like to thank a neighbor Kim Massey for helping us with him and being a great neighbor.

As the night went on, not only was I deeply saddened by our loss, I was becoming more and more angry about the vet who told me to leave him there and wanted the community to know there is someone out there who does care.

I am hoping the next time you are in need of a vet for your beloved 4 legged family member you will think twice when picking out a vet and remember this story and the kind of compassion Dr. Hicks showed us on that very horrible and sad day.
Thank you,
Christy Chandler