But before I do, I must lament on the situation that happened with my family. When I mentioned last time that I needed prayers for my younger brother's recovery, it was because our dog Ikaika had bit him. Normally, this is very uncharacteristic of the dog because he had never bit anyone before. But in the process of calling 9-1-1, the police had to come and take my statement while Vinnie went in the ambulance. And when I got on the plane the next day, I did not know anything that happened back home. When I returned to Minnesota hoping to play with my puppy, he wasn't there.
My mom had to give us the bad news that they had to put Ikaika down after what had happened. It's very quiet at my house, because at the beginning of the summer, we lost our first dog Anela. I'm so upset because the police had only given my parents two choices: either Animal Control takes the dog, or we must put him down ourselves. My parents opted to put the dog down, because they knew the vet would be gentle with our beloved pet and didn't want Animal Control to scare Ikaika.
I'm upset because this situation came completely out of no where, and it ended up taking my family away. I miss him, more than anyone could possibly know.
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When I was 12, my mom and I went to the pet store to pick up guinea pig food for the two or three guinea pigs we had at our home. And that's when I met him.
He was the most handsome looking dog I had ever seen, and I went right up to him. I knew he was mine because the instant I went up to the window to say hello, he licked the window right where my hand was on the other side of the glass. The sales lady at the counter knew exactly what she was doing because she went and got the puppy and gave him to me to hold. At that moment, I knew I was not going to leave the pet store without him.
I had never begged for anything in my life, but I begged so hard for this dog. My mom and I literally sat on the floor of the pet store and called up my dad to ask permission. My mom REALLY had to do some convincing because my dad had already said we would have no more dogs. But it was fate from the moment he licked the window. He had chosen to go home with me.
I was in love, his name was Ikaika, and he was mine.
Ikaika "Fruity" Petrulo
October 9th, 1999 - August 10th, 2010
Ah...I'm sorry Cassie. I saw on Facebook that Ikaika died but I assumed it was due to old age. I didn't realize you had to put him down. That seriously sucks.
ReplyDeleteI found out Mac died when I was visiting Alex in Chicago and I think I cried for the rest of the weekend. Alex bought me a Scottie dog stuffed animal that weekend and I still have it in my kitchen on top of my coffee pot.