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Life is truly a precious gift that for some reason has been given to all of us. We live it with those we love and sometimes we’re blessed to cross paths with really special beings. Beings meaning amazing people. In our case, a very special dog named Captain.
 
In the spring of 2004, while we were on tour with Ozomatli, we got the brilliant idea of adopting a small road dog to keep us company. After visiting a few animal shelters, we saw a small Jack Russell at the North Hollywood shelter. He had just been found wandering the streets of North Hollywood and had to stay put to give his real owners a chance to pick him up. His owners never claimed him and after a few days he was finally eligible for adoption. We returned to the shelter and found out that another family wanted him as well. The adoption process became an auction and when all was said and done, the little guy ended up going home with GBG.  We named him “Captain”, after our great friend and Producer Ted Hutt who was also nicknamed Captain.
 
Captain brightened everyone up and he truly brought the “ home” feel to the road. He loved chasing water bottles and tearing them up.  He was a great snuggle buddy and when you were upset, one big slobbery kiss from Captain made you smile again. Captain had the chance to tour through the country and he met many of our fans and friends along the way. He spent a lot of his summers with us on Warped Tour and loved to hang out under our merch booth. He was even voted BEST DOG for Warped Tours 2005 “Best Awards”.  Captain also got his own picture in GBG’s “Nothing Is More” CD booklet. Being a typical Jack Russell, he always got himself into some sort of mischief, big or small. He was determined and always seemed to be on some sort of mission. There were many times when he ran out and chased squirrels, rabbits, and cats or just rolled around in crap. He loved parks, playing with other dogs and truly was a happy dog.  A few months after adopting Captain, we ended up getting another dog that we named Audio.  Captain and Audio became instant buddies and were inseparable. 
 
Two weeks ago, while at home Captain killed a rat in the backyard. Later that day, we noticed that he was acting strange. He was limping a bit and his demeanor was different, he looked sad and ill. So we took him to the vet, but unfortunately Captains usual Doctor was not present on that day. We explained to the present Doctor that Captain had killed a rat and that we were concerned about him possibly coming into contact with rat bait. We also noticed that he had a little blood on his gums and we weren't sure if he had been bitten by the rat, or if it was something else. The vet dismissed all the clues we had just laid out for her and said, “Captain had probably strained himself from trying to get the rat earlier that day”. She said, “his limp was from running around” and that “the small amount of blood on his gums was maybe a bite”. She then gave us some medicine for the leg/muscle inflammation and sent us home. The next day, Captains limp was gone. So we thought, "Ok, he's better". However, he was still calm and not his typical self. Two days later, he stopped eating and looked very sick.  So we took him right  back to the vet and was now seen by his usual Doctor. We told him what had happened and what the other vet had told us earlier that week. He immediately picked up on all the clues and signs he saw coming from Captain. He took him in right away, put him on I.V. and took blood tests. He then confirmed that Captain had all the symptoms of rat poisoning. Captain got his Vitamin K, but by that point his lungs were full of fluid and was bleeding internally. They ran some blood tests and saw that his blood levels were ok, so they decided not to perform a blood transfusion. By the end of the day, our vet said that Captain was stable enough to go home and to just keep a good eye on him. He said to bring him back in the morning so they can put him back on treatment and run more blood tests. Around 10pm that night, Captain's breathing was heavier. He looked swollen and was falling over. We took him to the emergency vet, where around 11pm, our poor little Captain passed away from all his complications. We were all in denial, upset and just devastated by the whole situation.
 
We all felt that it was important to share this story with everyone who met and knew Captain, but also with everyone who is a dog owner/animal lover. Many people loved Captain and we don't want this to happen to anyone ever again. It’s too late for Captain, but we can't help and feel like more could have been done when we first took him into the vet. All the signs were there; the leg limping was from the fluid going into his chest and it was hurting him to walk from the pressure. The blood on his gums was from the internal bleeding that rat poisoning does to you and of course the odd behavior was from being poisoned and not feeling good. If the first vet had helped him earlier in the week when we told her what was wrong, maybe Captain would have survived the ordeal. Now looking back, all the signs were there and we too should have been more aware of what had happened to Captain. Unfortunately we learned the hard way.
 
We still have Audio who thankfully didn't eat the poison.  However we couldn't help but miss the presence of 2 dogs and it was just way too sad to see Audio alone.  So we adopted a new Jack Russell puppy named "Vigo" to keep him company. Vigo is only 2 months old and full of energy and life.
No dog will ever replace Captain. Like every being, they have their very own personality, character and soul that are so unique. We all miss Captain very much and know that he is now in a much happier place where nothing can harm him. We hope Captain’s life story educates pet owners on rat poisoning symptoms and how to prevent this from happening again. Please share this story along with anyone you think will benefit from it.
 
Aixa
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