Sorry to be miserable this morning but this post on Facebook got to me it is from Animal Welfare Helderberg, a very important message for those that still breed their pets or haven't had them sterilised. Please adopt from shelters don't buy puppies. Tonight I write a little something from the heart. Today we had to say goodbye to some of our kennel dogs. And tonight as I sit here and write this, the tears roll down my cheeks and my heart is VERY sore. They may not have been my own dogs, but I loved them like they were. Some of the dogs had been at our kennels for close to a year, and were as special to me as my own dogs at home. People are quick to judge and slam us for euthanizing our dogs, but when we receive an astronomical amount of dogs through our doors and the kennels are FULL – what must we do? Our kennels do not believe in turning dogs away – if we do, where will they land up? At the rubbish dump or in the street? We play Sudoku on a daily basis, shuffling and re-shuffling our dogs in their kennels, trying to squeeze in an extra one here and an extra one there, trying to free up a kennel for one more dog. But we never seem to win and from where we sit at the kennels, and with all the unwanted, abandoned, stray, neglected and abused animals coming through our doors, there really doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. And yet people still breed and breed and breed. And there are still more people that don’t care, than people who do. If you think it’s easy for us to make these decisions, it’s not. It’s more than heart wrenching. It’s painful. And it hurts. Not temporarily, but eternally. Even though we at the kennels are NOT to blame for this, we feel responsible. We grow to love these animals and we are the ones left with the emotional heartache. Tonight, I want to say something to our special Bonzo, who was one of the dogs we said goodbye to today. Dear Bonzo, Susan and I loved you from the day we met you. You crept into our hearts faster than we ever imagined. When you arrived at our kennels, we saw the hurt in your eyes and the aching in your heart. And though you were petrified of us at first, you learned quickly to trust us and always put a smile on our faces. You went from scuttling away from us, to running up to us. You went from hiding behind trees, to jumping up for kisses. Deep in our hearts we knew we wouldn’t be able to find you a new home but we didn’t stop hoping for a miracle. In your short life time, too much damage had been done and your heart was too hurt. But we tried and we tried and we tried. Sorry we failed you my boy. Sorry we couldn’t give you the happy ending that we wanted, and though we are not the ones to blame, we do feel responsible. Though you are no longer with us – you have left deep foot prints in our hearts and we will lovingly remember you forever more. Go well boy, till we meet again.