The Good and the Bad

Well, I guess this is how it all happens when you run an animal shelter. Animals come in, homeless; animals are adopted out; and some animals die.

This week, I got in two new girls, and I will post pics of them this weekend, I promise. They are very young and very cute (syrians, medium brown and white coloring).

And I adopted out Baltasar to a happy home.

AND, tomorrow, I will need to put Sinead down (the appointment is at noon). She is the sister of Whale, who got cancer in Jaunary and had to be put down. Sinead's tumors are bad enough at this point that I need to take this step--they are inhibiting her from walking normally, and she isn't eating or drinking much at all. I learned when Whale had her breast cancer that, while it is operable, it costs $400 and isn't guaranteed at all that it will remove all the cancer NOR that the animal will survive the surgery.

I've had Sinead ever since last July, when I came back from a trip to Ireland with my friend Tara. She has lived a great life here at the New York Hamster House, with her two sisters Sinead and Killer. And now, she is sick, and her quality of life is down. It's time for her to go and play with Whale again. I will miss her, but I also don't want to selfishly extend her life to make me feel better. She is in pain, and it is her time.

If you want to see more pictures of Sinead, go here: she happens to be the Hamster of the Month right now at the New York Hamster House.