“Please help me!” I yelled as I entered the emergency room. I have never been that person before, but there I stood, tear streaked face, clutching a hard plastic pet cage that shook in my hands. Inside, Hazel, our beautiful tan 16 lbs terrier mutt was convulsing and each spasm extracted a shrill yelp that went straight through my heart. Strangers had seen my desperation and acted with compassion. Someone had pointed out the way, someone had helped my 4-year-old daughter down the stairs and two others opened the glass doors just as we arrived at the pet hospital. In my grasp was the closest thing my girl has to a sibling, we only had her three months and she was dying.