Dogs are man's best friend....

I have been on many calls where the person died along and had animals.  One of the worst cases I can remember was a call in a trailer house.  The man had been dead for about a week and had two pitbulls. The house smelt horrid.  Not only from the smell of animal feces and dirt but from the decomposing flesh of the man's body.  When I stepped inside there was a sheet covering the body lying in the middle of his living room.  The couch had been torn apart my the dogs, there were things knocked over and what was left of reachable food for the dogs shredded and thrown about.  Animals are animals first and foremost.  No matter how much we love and care for them when the time comes they feel they need to fend for themselves they do whatever is necessary to survive.  As we prepared to move the body I pulled back the white sheet... The dogs had gotten hungry.  The pitbulls had started by just nibbling on his fingers and toes.  Probably in an attempt to wake him so they could be fed.  When that didn't work they did what animals do best.  Scavenged.  The soft tissue of his abdomen had been eaten away.  There were bite marks all down his legs where they had tried to chew of the flesh.  Luckily, he was found soon after that because they hadn't tried anything to his viewing areas yet (the face and neck allowing family to see the deceased).  It's sad that in the end, your man's best friend could become your worst nightmare.