An overwhelming realization

The past 12 hours for our family have been difficult. I completely lost it last night after I read news stories of what was done to lab animals and why they chose Beagles - although I knew, I think I chose to keep the proverbial "sheet over my head" to pretend I didn't so I could avoid meltdowns such as this.

As S. and I drove Uno home, I expressed concern that I thought Uno didn't have a voice. It seemed he was trying to cry but no sound was coming out. We had even prepped ourselves for the howls and the normal Beagle cries, but nothing came out. In one of these news clips, they spoke of how some techs in the labs would remove the vocal cords so they wouldn't have to hear their cries.

And when one reporter talked about how they were tattooed with their ID#, I was a wreck. Poor S. couldn't even control the sobbing. My heart broke into so many tiny pieces.

How could we [humans] do something like this to these sweet and loving creatures? We failed at one of our basic duties - to keep watch over the animals of the land.

As the night wore on, Uno's pacing finally stopped and he was able to sleep. However, there were many times in the night I awoke to a potty issue or his failed attempts to howl. He was comforted in our floor cuddles. We can tell he's having major issues, though. His favorite spot in the house is one in between two full-length mirrors. I suspect it's because he's with more beagles that way. All he knew of life is now gone and the one thing left that was known was being with these other beagles - and now he's all alone.