Tragedy strikes our household and I am to blame...

[expatriot]

My beautiful wife always helps an animal in need, she has such a beautiful heart. She had rescued two parakeets she had found at her park that had clearly been domesticated at one point but had mites. She took them in, we had them in a room away from the cats in this large parrot cage that I had lined with chicken wire to keep them in. She would let them out and they loved to be on the ceiling fan. She told me today that she was going to leave them out. I knew this. She went to work and I was working on webpages, etc. My stupid wireless mouse ran out of batteries and so I went in to the room where they were to get some new ones. I must have forgotten to close the door all the way. I like to turn my music up real loud. My wife calls me to tell me about a pigeon she found that had been hit by a car and was fine except for its wing. We got off the phone and I look over to the room. Oh my god. It was cracked open. I ran in, one of them was on the fan the other was not... My head was spinning.... I found its limp body under the bed in our bedroom. feathers everywhere. My poor beautiful wife. Poor Jade (the parakeet)... I love cats with a passion and I know it is their nature but I was so, am so furious with them... I am so evil. My wife is so good-hearted.

[LeftyMom]

1. I know there's nothing I can say to keep you from feeling guilty

but I'm going to try. You and your wife have done a lot, and you've saved lives. But no matter how careful, protective and loving you are accidents will still happen. All you can do is redouble your efforts, and remember that Jade had safe and healthy time in your home, something she would never have had otherwise once somebody let her loose in a park.

:hug:

[expatriot]

3. my wife is having a very hard time tonight

she's blaming herself and I myself.



Jade is the one in the foreground, Jasper is the one in the back. She had them finger trained, it took her months (we had them for six months). As busy as she is, she spent an hour with them nearly every day. Jasper is trying to talk to the injured pigeon right now.

[flvegan]

2. People make mistakes. It's their nature.

I know it doesn't help, but don't beat yourself up over it.

[expatriot]

4. thank you flvegan for being here

i am beating myself up. what really kills me is that I turned my music up so as not to be bothered by noise. But thanks for the words of wisdom. Make sure you look at the pic in my response to LeftyMom.

[expatriot]

5. a little clarification

the subject line to that message might make it sound like i am more emotionally needy than i am. i didn't mean 'thank you for being here' as one might say to one whose shoulder one is crying on, but as in 'thank you for being here and offering your words of wisdom.'

[CrispyQ]

6. Ohhhh.

I, too, have a tragic story of a horrid mistake that cost the life of my beloved bunny. But here's the thing. Everyone makes mistakes, & it is from those that you learn & become a better, more careful person in the future. I know that doesn't seem like much, but that is all the comfort I could take from my own experience. I have since applied my costly lesson in another little friends life.

:hug:

[Raine]

7. You have a good heart

and it's in the right place. We can't control everything, we all just do the best we can. :hug:

[Solitaire]

8. You didn't do it purposely...

and the little guy knows that.

It's natural to feel bad about what happened, if you didn't then you could beat yourself up.

T'care.

Sol :)

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. Don't beat yourself up. Feel bad about what happened and then go on.

Terrible stuff happens when you work with animals. It just does. And all you can do is feel badly and then pick yourself up and get going again.

I speak from experience. It doesn't matter how hard you try stuff still happens.

But it is important to keep going.