I had to have my dog put down

[winnieb]

I am so sad--
My dog, Peaches is a 10yr old Bulldog, had to be put down tonight-- very unexpectedly.
I think I just need to vent hear- so sorry if I ramble....
I get home tonight and there is a weird car sitting in front of my house-- the driver just stares at me, there is also a passenger reclined in the car. I get my boys inside- and decide I would put Peaches out front. She is very protective of me and can be growly at strangers- so I figured they would leave.
I called for her from the deck, no answer-- I went out the downstairs door, no answer-- I go out thru the garage with her food- she slowly walks towards me. Her face is swollen and she has blood all over her face. I get her in- she falls onto the tile floor-- I run upstairs tell the kids to get shoes on, call my mom to tell her I am dropping the kids off at her house, call the urgent care vet to let them know I am on my way in.
My poor dogs face looks like it has been eaten by something- she is bleeding all over the tile floor and the carpet and she can't get up the stairs. I get her into the car- drop off the kids, Peaches just laid in the floor of the car.
I called the soon to be ex- husband to tell him to meet me at the vet. I also called the cops about the weird people-- they send someone out to check them out.
We get to the vet, carry Peaches inside, the vet thinks something bit her (or something along those lines) approximately 24hrs ago-- he said there were maggots starting to "grow" around the wounds. There is NO way it was 24hrs ago- I was outside with her at 1am- she was fine, nothing wrong. Wouldn't the maggot growth accelerate due to the heat today, it was 95degrees?
The vet looked her over, the skin was pretty messed up-- he would have had to remove (via surgery) about a 3 inches circle of skin and hope that additional skin wouldn't die off. Her fever was extremely high.
We asked the vet if he could tell if another animal did this- he said he couldn't give a solid answer.
In talking to the vet, the surgery tonight, the healing process, the additional sedation to remove additional dead skin and clean her facial wounds would cause her alot of suffering. And he told us that even after all that, he couldn't promise that she would last a month with the amount of facial work she would need done.
So I sat in the vets office with my head laying on my extremely smelly dog, who looked like she crapped on herself, and smelled of infection-- and had to tell the vet to put my baby dog to sleep.
She was 10-- average life for a bulldog is 8-- so she had a good life.
I also had to go home and tell my kids. My 8 yr old is quite upset, as am I-- the 5 yr old doesnt get it....
This is the last thing I thought I would have to do. Now I have to go clean up her blood that is all over my entry way floor.
The cops also called me to tell me that the people sitting in front of my house for 20 minutes, the in front of my neighbors house "appeared to be ok" They told the cop they were waiting on friends to get home. I am glad they "appeared" to be ok people!