The Tough Choices We Sometimes Have To Make

A wonderful companion who was as tough as nails making this decision even harder as she would not let on how much she was suffering. As a lover of animals you are suffering along with them and why the journey can be so painful.

This week I have been putting off the inevitable and that was having my one dog of 15 years euthanised or put to sleep. This is what all pet owners dread and it is the only humane thing to do which does not make it any easier. Truffle my Chocolate Labrador has been sick for some time and there was no quality of life left and I discussed this with the vets a few weeks back. I delayed this for a few weeks now and had come to terms with this last night. Se had lost over 7kg's in the last couple of months and she was battling and you know there is no other choices left available.

I have done this many times before and each time it is very difficult and does not get ay easier I am at the point of no more pets unless they are strays in danger of being put down. Our last adopted pet is a Mastiff who is now 73Kg's and very much part of the family. He was just too big that no one wanted him and how we ended up with him which is actually a blessing for everyone as he is a loveable gentle giant.

Dogs are like your best friend and that reminds me I had a tough choice with my best friend about 15 years ago. He was working for our company and he was just not pulling his weight. When I first hired him he was fantastic and over the years his work rate dropped to actually accomplishing nothing. My work rate had creased and he never helped out and he thought he was protected with me being in charge.

The one day someone sent me photographs of him fast asleep in the office and this was the final straw. In a work environment you have to separate the emotions and remove the friendship side of things as this is business.

I took him out for cake and coffee and after a good chat fired him as the replies to the questions I asked told me things were not going to change. I felt really bad and it was something that had to be done and because I had hired him I felt responsible. Work colleagues and my boss were shocked that this was done, but it was the right call and no regrets. He was given a 6 months severance package which was 3 months more than the standard so the friendship part still played a role, but still did not make it any easier.

I have fired over a 100 people in one work shift before which sounds extreme, but also the right call at the time as they were on a go slow trying to score over time pay. The one thing I have learned is I will never ask someone to do a job I cannot do or understand properly as I need to know what is capable. The majority of my staff today know this and why generally things run so smoothly as I am no fool and there is respect which has been earned by working alongside them.

I have 3 employees/survivors that have worked with me since 2010 and they will never leave.

I think making the right decisions at the right time is a fine line that you learn to make over time through experience. Some decisions are harder than others mind you and many are never that easy even though on the outside it may look like you don't care. Decisions can ever be made with emotion even though you are tearing up inside.

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