cathartic afternoon

Both the defense and the prosecution have rested now....both sides are conferring with the judge about what instructions will be given to the jury. 

To the amazement of all, the defense put Diane on the stand. The prosecution simply ate her alive, pounding away at her by showing pictures of dead dogs and asking her What was this dog's name? When did it die? to which she softly and tearfully responded, "I don't know."

over and over and over.

until suddenly the prosecution showed a picture of a few bones laying outside her son's bedroom and asked "Isn't this Lucha, Ms. Eldrup?"

I put my glasses back on at the point. I've taken them off whenever pictures and videos of the death & destruction at Muddy Paws have been shown, but at that point, I put them on. I wanted & needed to see what was left of Lucha.
So I looked.

You couldn't tell that a dog's body had disintegrated in that spot....there was nothing really there. Kim had told me that months ago, but for some reason I needed to look.

Diane, sobbing on the stand, said that Lucha had been having seizures and had died in her arms. I just lost it at that point. oh, god, I hope that it's true. I hope that Lucha did not die of starvation and neglect like all the others. I hope she died in the arms of someone she loved.