sad news

I just talked to my parents, and they had to put one of our dogs Bentley to sleep. The vet said Bentley had three slipped discs in his lower back with two of them rubbing directly bone on bone, as if he had been hit by a car. My mom said he had been limping and acting abnormal since Sunday night, but things got really bad today. He bit my brother's hand this morning and went for Dad's jugular when they were getting ready to go to the vet. She said he was in so much pain, and surgery probably wouldn't ease any of it. The vet said he could have injured himself, or it could be hereditary. Or most likely, since he just wandered into our lives malnourished and frightened, we don't know if he was beaten or how bad he was treated. I feel sad because I'm not there, because Mom has lost her buddy, and most of all I feel guilty for being thankful that I live on my own when my family really wants me there at times like this.