There Is An Angel on Valley Road (by Buzz Garben)

My friend Buzz Garben wrote this moving essay after he and I took his dying dog to be euthanized at Dr. Katz's Animal Hospital on Valley Road in Upper Montclair.

"This afternoon, in Montclair, I witnessed something so special I felt it had to be recognized in one form or another. Let me preface my remarks in stating that I am now and always have been in my sixty plus years, a “dog person.” By that I mean my family has always had dogs for pets and, of course, there were a few cats scattered here and about, and even every once in a while, some other “critter” may have claimed our home as his own. But it was the dogs who always became the central figures and the closest family members because, I'm sure, of the unconditional love they always represented.

Molly was our much beloved Lab/Shep Mix we rescued from the old Paws Animal Shelter about fifteen years ago. I fondly remember we went up there looking to replace a Black Lab we had recently had to put down. “Yes, we do have something like a Black Lab.  Come on up and see her,” we were told.  I remember gasping as this emaciated little waif was brought out to us on a leash; the only similarity to a Black Lab was that yes, there was some black hair and yes, she did have four legs.  I seemed to remember Labs' ears laying down; these ears stood up like a jack rabbit.  But one look in her eyes and I knew she was going home with us. 

We had a large fenced in back yard which had always served admirably as a playground for the many dogs which have been family members in the sixty years my family has owned this property. It was only a few days after Molly joined us that we realized that the four foot fence we had around the property was not enough to discourage this inquisitive canine from seeking whatever it was that lay on the other side of that fence. So quickly the fifty dollar donation to Paws was supplemented with a twenty-five hundred dollar donation to a fence company to raise the fence to six feet, at which point Molly decided she would stay.  What followed were wonderful years of walks around the block, walks to the park, playing in the back yard, chasing squirrels (and really anything else that moved), and just lying in the sun and taking it easy. But more than that it was years of the love and devotion we always felt only came from dogs. But unfortunately, man's best friend does not live forever.

I have lived in this area all of my life and have dealt with several veterinarians and animal hospitals in Montclair,  Bloomfield, and Verona. Never once have I seen anything less than competent and compassionate in terms of care for any of our pets. So it is indeed not to disparage the work by any other local veterinarian that I write this. But having said this and having witnessed what I consider to be more than my fair share of animal euthanization procedures, I can tell you that what I saw in Montclair today was so far above and beyond what anyone could reasonably expect in these situations, I felt the need to express my gratitude.

A very dear friend of mine accompanied me on Molly's last journey. And after Molly was gone we turned to each other with exactly the same thought. There is an angel on Valley Road.  I don't know how else to express it. My very deepest, heartfelt appreciation and gratitude go out to Dr. Nancy Katz (of Katz and Dogs Animal Hospital) and her entire staff for indeed turning a pet owner's worst day into really something quite beautiful. The compassionate manner in which our Molly was sent off  was as near beautiful as death could possibly be."