This is not a column about Daisy. It is a column about kindness and appreciation. And even
though Daisy, our beloved German Shepherd is central to the story, she is not the least of
what it is about.
Daisy died yesterday. It involved a Checkers 360 guy, a motorbike, and the unfulfilled dream
of a dog whose ambition was someday, before her dog-years were up, to catch one.
Yesterday she finally did it. Although sadly it didn’t end well. Not for Daisy or the bike. The
360 guy was thankfully fine.
I was in a meeting when I started to receive calls. When they became insistent, I answered
to hear the frantic voice of a concerned woman I had not met. She explained that Daisy,
who had been taken for her daily walk by Prince had been involved in an accident. She
assured me that she, and a few others, would stay with Prince, who was distraught, and
with Daisy (who wasn’t in a state to be aware) until help arrived. They had called CAP as
well as the vet who was apparently on the way.
Before anyone had a chance to leave the house, she called again with an update. The vet
had arrived and along with CAP were escorting Daisy to the vet for urgent care. She
explained where they were going to and suggested that we go straight there. She also
reiterated that what had occurred was no one’s fault. Daisy had managed to get out of her
harness and that Prince was in the need of a little TLC.
By the time we arrived at the vet a few minutes later, Daisy had passed away. It was that
quick. And there was clearly little that could be done.
We gathered at home in shocked silence trying to process what had happened when my
wife received a message
“Hi Heidi,
Zameer here from CAP security. My deepest condolences for your loss of your shepherd…
we did our best to take her asap to orange grove vet. We arrived on scene 3 mins after it
happened.
If there’s anything we can do for you at CAP, please let us know.
We also offer K9 therapy to overcome trauma, with a friendly female dog called Storm.
Kind regards
Zameer”
If the kindness of the strangers who sat with Prince as he cried over Daisy, who called us and
made sure that we understood the situation, and who arranged for the vet and Cap to assist
wasn’t enough, we now had this message to contend with.
It is remarkable the difference these gestures made to us on what was a terrible day.

We knew of Daisy’s aspiration to one day catch a 360-delivery guy, but as she hadn’t been
well lately, we all assumed that her dreams would never be actualized. Until yesterday
when in a last burst of youth, she broke through her harness and finally did what she had
dreamed of doing for all her dog years.
I have no idea if there is a dog heaven. But if there is, it is filled with kind people like those
who sit with a dying dog, with people like Prince, with vets and with people like Shameer
who reach out to strangers to show they care. I guess there is also an ongoing supply of
Checkers 360-guys who ride up and down and fulfill unrealized dreams.

Howard Feldman is the host of the Morning Mayhem on 101.9 ChaiFM – Monday to Friday 6am to 9am