Harsh!

One thing that I noticed from the start when we moved to Spain is just how harsh life is. It wasn't so much from the struggles that we've gone from although those were pretty harsh, but more from just life around us.

The reality of what sort of part animals play in the everday lives of humans here in Spain is quite obvious. Watch a bull fight to see that. I still haven't gone. I don't really need to.

Last night was a perfect example of the harshness of life; and death for that matter when I was driving on the highway to go an pick up a friend to go out for drinks and passed a dog who had obviously been hit. What I didn't expect was for the dog to look back up at me as I was driving by. By the time I had realized that he was still alive I had already passed him. This was a highway of 80 km/h.

For some reason I went and picked up my friend first and told her what had happened and then proceeded to go back to see what we could do for the poor guy. It was a good thing I picked her up first because while I tried to get to him, she called the vet.

A couple of other good people stopped just as I was getting to him and they hauled him over the medium off of the highway and out of harms way. This was no small feat as he was obviously in pain. One of the people who stopped happened to be a vet and while she was waiting for her husband to bring the van back around off the highway I kept thinking if he survived this and was okay, Miguel and I would take him and call him "Lucky". He was not well though.

I called the vet several hours later to find that they ended up having to put Lucky to sleep as his back was severely broken and he was paralyzed.

This is life. It happens. Unfotunately to dogs and cats far too often in Southern Spain. There are a lot of strays. I feel better now though knowing that Lucky is no longer in pain than having the nightmare in my head that some poor dog is dying slowly on the road.

I wonder how many people drove by in the time I passed Lucky to the time I came back with my friend. Harsh!