Sun Journal Article: Mark LaFlamme on the Veterinarian Shortage and its Casualties
Mark LaFlamme: On the veterinarian shortage and its casualties
Mark LaFlamme, April 24, 2024
Losing a pet is an emotional trauma no matter what the circumstances. But lose one when maybe a simple shot, pill or surgery could have saved the animal and now you can add elements of guilt and failure to that pile of grief.
The soil was wet and hard to move but I encountered no ice so the grave took shape in short order.
When I was finished, the grave itself was rather neat. Three feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep — plenty of space to contain the earthly remains of my mother’s cat.
Sparky, the cat’s name was. I suppose he was like a brother to me. To my mother, inching toward her 90s, Sparky was something even greater than that. He was her constant companion, a living, loving presence in her otherwise empty house.