Health Update: Glenn's dog Victor

December 13, 2012

Writer

Last night, Glenn told the audience about the health problems facing his dog Victor as he is getting older. Glenn gave an update on Victor's health this morning, and the difficult choice facing his family about how to handle his failing health.

" We have ‑‑ we have gotten an awful lot of mail from last night's episode of the program. We talked about The Hobbit but at the end, the last four or five minutes, I... I just, I did a little tribute to my dog Victor who, if you are a long‑time listener of this program, you know Victor. We used to talk about him all the time. He used to come to work with me because he's a service dog and Victor has been at my side for, well, shortly after 9/11," Glenn said.

"Our lives have changed so much. At that time we didn't want to get a gun because neither of us grew up with a gun and we were like, 'I'm not responsible enough.' Well, get over that, dummy. Why don't you become responsible enough."

"But we decided we didn't want to get a gun. We decided we would get a dog. And we got Victor, and I'll never forget. I was on tour. We got Victor from this great place called Harrison K‑9 and these are amazing dogs, amazing, amazing dogs and they love them and they ‑‑ they go over to Germany and find these dogs for you. They ask you exactly what your situation is. They don't sell them to everybody because they don't like people who want, like, attack dogs. And these are working dogs and so they ask you your situation and then they go over to Germany and try to find the right dog for you and then they train him. He's already been in three years of training over in Germany and then they tune him for your family. And we wanted a dog that could rip somebody's throat out but also be with the family and be good with the kids. And we didn't have any kids at the time, and Victor, when we were going through our trouble trying to have another child, Victor was kind of our child."

"And I remember having a conversation with Victor right before Raphe was born because Tania was down on the ground with him, and she was every night. And she was laying down on the ground with him in the bedroom and she was talking to him and rubbing his face and I said, 'Oh, poor Victor. Victor, Mommy is not ‑‑ Mommy is going to be like, what is this dog doing. The minute this baby is born, you better be on your best behavior because now the firstborn is not quite as special.'"

"And I think Victor took my advice, and I will never forget when Raphe was old enough to sit on my lap, I was on the phone talking to somebody and I was holding Raphe on my lap and Victor was sitting there at my knee. And Raphe was, like, moving really hard and I'm like, 'What are you doing?' And I looked down and he has Victor by the fangs, in this giant mouth. I mean, this dog is gigantic. He used to look like a lion. And he had him by the canine teeth and he was rocking his face back and forth like it was a ride, like those were the handlebars of this giant mouth ride that he was in. And Victor was just looking up at me like, 'You know I could take his hands right now but I won't because I love you.'"

"He's the best dog in the world. And I got home last night and the phone was ringing and everybody was calling and I didn't want to talk to anybody and my wife just looked at me and said, 'What did you do?' And I said, 'I just talked about Victor on the air and the decisions that we have to make.' And she said, 'He's fine.' And I said, 'Uh‑huh.' And he goes through these spurts where ‑‑ he's approaching 13. He's 12 now. For a pure bred German Shepherd that's like 1,000. And he goes through these periods of real pain. And he was standing in the living room yesterday by himself and I walk in and he's just, he's whimpering. And I went over and I ‑‑ I held him. And he goes through these periods where he seems to be fine and then he can't get up and he's dragging his feet behind him. And we're stuck in this place that we love him so much."

"And I find myself having these odd Margaret Sanger conversations in my head, that life is life and who am I to say when it's time for him to go. But I again don't know. I don't want him in pain. I don't want him to ‑‑ he's ‑‑ he's blind now and he's ‑‑ at times he's the same old Victor. But when do you know?"

Glenn explained that he has wondered if the best thing for Victor would be to put him to sleep, which prompted a conversation between everyone about euthanasia in both people and animals.

Read the transcript of the conversation below:

GLENN: We were talking about this in the office this morning, and Stu is I guess my angel on one shoulder saying life is life and you don't do it. And Pat is the other good angel on my shoulder saying you don't let him suffer. And I'm in the middle saying I... my whole family isn't even convinced that he's suffering. And I don't know if we're in denial or if I'm trying to just get past it. It's a tough decision.
STU: I mean, you know, you're ‑‑ it's impossible obviously, but you're in a ‑‑ you're trying to make a, essentially a quality of life judgment.
GLENN: You're making a God decision.
STU: Yeah. And especially if there's ‑‑ if there's doubt. I mean, if there's ‑‑ you know, if the doctor is saying he's not in that much pain.
GLENN: I don't know. The doctor is ‑‑ I mean, first of all, how do you know a dog is in pain?
STU: Yeah, but you're not erring on the side of life, though, I mean at that point. If the medical information, people in your family think that he's okay.
GLENN: No, nobody thinks that he's okay.
STU: Not okay. You know, he might be in pain but you don't ‑‑ there's a certain amount of pain that everybody has. If he's ‑‑ if the doctors are saying it's not that bad, to me you don't want to err on the side of saying, "No, I think he is in that much pain, therefore we should end life."
GLENN: He has an IV in his leg. He has an ulcer in his eye. So his eyes are bleeding. So his eyes are red. So he's looking. He can't see out of his eye anymore. He's dragging his legs behind him. He's, times can't get up. Sometimes he can.
Like last night the doctor put him ‑‑ you know, gave him, just gave him some medicine. You know, he's been on IV, blah, blah‑blah. He comes home, she says give him this dog food. I haven't seen him run to the bowl of food for I don't know how long. We've had to hand‑feed him for a while because he just can't even ‑‑ he can just barely even stand. He can't stand up and put his head down in the bowl anymore. And ‑‑ but in the last, now like the last 36 hours, where two days ago... I wrote my kids and said, (inaudible). And last night he runs to his bowl. And it's like...
STU: He is surviving.
PAT: He is.
GLENN: How do you make this decision? How do you make this decision? And, you know, it's really, especially with all this stuff with ObamaCare, you can't make that decision.
PAT: Your dog is not covered, though, by ObamaCare.
STU: No.
PAT: That's not a good thing.
GLENN: You can't, you have these people ‑‑
PAT: Your 42‑year‑old children and your dog.
STU: That's Bo care.
GLENN: You have these panels that will make this decision that will just be cold and calculating.
PAT: Yeah, about humans.
GLENN: About humans.
PAT: About humans. And that's ‑‑ I mean ‑‑
STU: Right.
PAT: It's staggering to think about for a dog. Try it for humans. I mean, it's unbelievable the things we're considering doing and are doing now because ObamaCare is the law of the land.
GLENN: They're starving them to death. Now imagine this. I mean, I would go and put a bullet in his head so fast rather than starving him to death.
PAT: Oh, yeah, it's painful. It's awful. It's awful.
GLENN: Starving him to death would be the most cruel thing possible.
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: And that's what they are doing in the British healthcare system now.
PAT: Yeah. To babies.
GLENN: To babies. And to handicap.
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: Starving people, and the elderly, starving them to death. That's just one of the most cruel things I've ever seen or heard of in my life. I can't ‑‑ I wouldn't do that to my dog. I would ‑‑ I contend they would put me in jail if I did that to Victor, if I starved him to death out of compassion.
STU: And they should.
GLENN: And they should. And yet that's what the healthcare system is doing in England. And that's what we will do here. Because it will be an easier way. We've already done it here. We did it with Terri Schiavo. Just starve them to death. Out of compassion. That's not compassion.
STU: I'm admittedly weird on this issue. I mean, you know, as some people probably know, I'm like the world's only conservative vegetarian and part of the reason for that is that there is part of that that goes into that equation that ‑‑
GLENN: Wow, listen to this. Listen to this. This is new information.
STU: No, it's not.
PAT: We have not heard this yet.
GLENN: We said this about him the minute, and he's like, no, I'm just, I'm tired of meat. Go ahead.
PAT: Go ahead.
STU: Or you could have read it in your own magazine in which I wrote this, Fusion magazine, which is ‑‑
GLENN: We don't hide it in the ‑‑ hide it in the pages of magazines. Who reads magazines?
STU: No, I did ‑‑
PAT: All right. Let's hear it. What's the big admission then?
STU: No, I mean, I have ‑‑ it's not a big admission.
PAT: Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. You've not admitted it to us on the air.
GLENN: Not on the air.
PAT: Go ahead.
GLENN: Let's hear it.
PAT: Let's hear it.
STU: It's not a big admission at all. I think ‑‑
PAT: Go ahead. Let's hear the little admission.
STU: It's already been admitted in a magazine.
GLENN: Hang on. Take off your leather shoes before you admit this. Go ahead.
STU: These are not leather shoes. However, but I ‑‑
GLENN: We haven't lost you to the no‑leather people, have we?
STU: No. I will say that there's part of me ‑‑ and this did happen for my dog, by the way, in that I don't think ‑‑ I do think that man has domain over animals. I do believe that. But I don't necessarily mean that ‑‑ think that that's a great idea. I still believe in the principle of life. And if it's at all possible, I believe to err on the side of life. That goes with humans and it goes with animals. You know, and I do ‑‑
PAT: So part of this is you don't believe man should eat animals?
STU: No, I don't ‑‑ I feel like I err on the side of life. So like, I don't make that decision for you guys, don't criticize you at all. I've never criticized you for a second. When I really think about it ‑‑
GLENN: But I want you to know we've criticized you.
STU: You have, often.
GLENN: And behind your back.
PAT: And vocally. But much more in front of your back than behind your back.
STU: That's fine. That's fine.
GLENN: Really cruel stuff but I'd have to say that's the really funny stuff, too.
PAT: Of course, of course.
GLENN: Is behind your back.
STU: Is ‑‑ and I believe that. But no, it's a very personal decision. I do not pushy on anybody. I'm not PETA, I'm not taking out billboards telling you shouldn't do it. But my point is that I don't under ‑‑ you know, it comes to that point of here I am. If I feel like you, Glenn, with my dog, I will probably be out of work for a week when that dog dies. I will be absolutely crushed and unable to do anything. And, you know, I'll go to the point of taking the dog to the vet all the time and all these crazy things I'll do to keep this dog alive, but that's just because I know this dog. The only difference between this dog and all these other animals that I would normally have on an egg sandwich is the fact that I've never met them and I have no relationship with them.
GLENN: That's why Raphe said to me the other day ‑‑
STU: Why I feel it's inconsistent.
GLENN: ‑‑ "I don't want to eat chicken." He's a kid who just won't eat anything. I mean, we can put anything in front of him and he's got a reason not to eat it. He just won't eat it. He will power eat morning for breakfast. He will eat like 14 bowls of cereal, eggs, bacon, anything you put in front of him. God help you if you get your hands in front of the boy in the morning. But by night, he's just not interested. And so it was an excuse, but I think there was a little bit of it. He said, "I don't want chicken." I said, Raphe, you like chicken. "No, I don't want chicken. I don't like chicken." Well, that's what we're... arghhhh! Man, it's a good thing my grandfather does not live anywhere near this boy. But he said, I don't want chicken because I don't... "Why?" "Because it reminds me of my chicken." And I said, "What's the first thing I told you when we got chickens?" "I know, don't name the chickens." That's right.
STU: But why ‑‑ I mean, and this is my point. It's an argument of are you pro life or are you pro personality. When you have a relationship with a specific animal ‑‑
GLENN: No, I'm pro life.
STU: ‑‑ you want to keep it alive at all costs. It's the Charlotte's Web thing. It's like Wilbur because a stupid spider can put a name above his head, all of a sudden you save him.
GLENN: When it comes to ‑‑ first of all, I don't equate animal life the same as human life.
STU: I agree.
GLENN: There's a big difference there.
STU: There's a big difference there. And if I was starve, I would absolutely eat ‑‑
GLENN: That's why I don't eat veal, and I am vocal about this, I don't eat veal because I think it's wrong to torture your food to make it taste better. It's just not ‑‑ that's just beyond unethical. That's just evil. You don't torture your food to make it taste better. No, definitely not.
STU: There was a little hesitation there.
GLENN: I just wanted to make sure. I was... however, when it comes to your mixing in eating with saving your dog, I don't believe in this, I just don't believe in ‑‑ you know, if you have the money, like you have the money. Go ahead and do the CAT scans and the, you know, all of the, you know, plastic surgery, you'll never change your pug's face but do all of that you want, whatever, if that's good for the dog, if it's ‑‑
STU: Right.
GLENN: But these people, people will get into debt with chemotherapy.
STU: Oh, yeah.
GLENN: And if you have the money, that's fine. But I don't ‑‑ I don't understand. And I would do it for my dog but I ‑‑
PAT: Me, too.
GLENN: But you look at it and you think, I don't know if this is even right. It is if you have the money. But if you are putting your family in jeopardy for it, I mean, there is something to be said with your family first. And I know.
PAT: Oh, yeah.
GLENN: The dog is a member of the family.
STU: That's tough.
GLENN: I know.
STU: You have to put your family first.
GLENN: It's awful.
STU: You have to do that. But, like, that stupid question kind of stuck in my head is why don't I eat my dog? Why don't I? The reason I don't do it is probably taste. I don't know what dogs taste like but people on farms will tell you that they have cows that they love and why don't I eat them? Why don't I eat ‑‑ why don't they eat Wilbur? They don't eat Wilbur because they have a relationship with Wilbur. And if you can have a relationship with Wilbur, then why don't you consider that in the equation? I still believe that man is superior. I'm not some crazy, like, I don't think I'm pushing anything on anybody. But it's something, I feel like as a conservative who wants to remain consistent ‑‑
PAT: Listen to this. This is pretty new information.
GLENN: We've lost him.
PAT: This is new information.
STU: It's all in the article eight years ago.
GLENN: He's going to be wearing Birkenstocks.
PAT: We don't read you dumb articles.
GLENN: Oh, yeah.
PAT: I mean, we read everything else in TheBlaze magazine.
GLENN: Have you read ‑‑
PAT: And don't read yours, Stu?
GLENN: Have you read Agenda 21 yet?

Trump's TOP FIVE accomplishments BEFORE taking office

Win McNamee / Staff | Getty Images

Donald Trump hasn't even begun his second term, and he is already making major moves that eclipse the Biden administration. Here are Trump's top FIVE most impressive feats that he has achieved before taking office:

Stock market surge

Roberto Machado Noa / Contributor | Getty Images

Immediately after the election, all major indexes skyrocketed. Trump's election bolstered confidence in the long-term stability of the U.S. economy. Just a few days after November 5th, Glenn had financial expert Carol Roth on his show to discuss what this actually means for America, and long story short, the forecast was very optimistic. America has another chance at a golden era, especially for small businesses.

Bitcoin boom

Bitcoin experienced its own surge in the immediate aftermath of Trump's re-election, breaching the $100,000 valuation for the first time in the digital currency's history and doubling in value from the beginning of the year. The rise is attributed to Trump's favorable stance towards cryptocurrencies and strong opposition to the idea of a "Fed Coin," a cryptocurrency made by the Federal Reserve. This ensures people can purchase Bitcoin and other cryptos without the government swooping in and shutting it down.

Media comes to heel

Paula Lobo / Contributor | Getty Images

In a shocking twist of events, even some of the mainstream media pivoted, agreeing to meet with President Trump and making future plans for cooperation with the President.

Just a few weeks after Trump's historic victory, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” made a trip to Mar-a-Lago to make peace with the president-elect. This comes after years of the duo bashing Trump as a dictator and a fascist.

Naturally, the dramatic shift was met with whiplash from "Morning Joe's" viewer base, and the couple lost half of their audience within a week. Either Scarborough and Brzezinski were lying about Trump, or they decided to bend the knee to "literally Hitler." Either way, their credibility pretty much went out the window.

Dealings with Trudeau

ANDREJ IVANOV / Contributor | Getty Images

Last week, Trump announced that he would impose a massive 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico unless they agree to crack down on their contribution to the migrant and fentanyl crisis plaguing the U.S. This grabbed the attention of Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, as 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the U.S. Trudeau made an unplanned visit to Mar-a-Lago to discuss this proposed tariff. Later Trudeau commented that he had "an excellent conversation" with Trump.

Defeated phony charges

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

After his re-election, all of the federal criminal charges remaining against Trump were dropped, concluding the years of assault from the Biden Department of Justice. This is due to the Department of Justice's longstanding precedent of not prosecuting a sitting president.

The LIES Joe Biden, the White House, and the media made about Hunter's pardon will disgust you

Tom Williams / Contributor | Getty Images

President Joe Biden gave his son, Hunter, a sweeping presidential pardon that erased the past ten years of his criminal record.

Despite President Biden's repeated promise that he would not pardon his son, Glenn saw right through the charade. Glenn predicted Biden had always intended to pardon Hunter, waiting until after the election to avoid damaging Harris's presidential campaign despite White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the entire corporate media establishment reiterating Biden's insistence that he would not pardon his son.

Here are three glaring examples of Biden and the media lying about the president's intentions to pardon Hunter:

President Biden claims he "ruled out" the possibility of pardoning Hunter.

@independent Joe Biden has issued a pardon for his son Hunter following his conviction on federal gun charges, despite previously claiming he would not do so. The president officially announced the decision on Sunday (1 December) saying that his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by the Justice Department. In a statement, he said he hoped the American people would understand his decision as a father. The sudden announcement was a full reversal of the stance he took six months ago when he announced publicly he would not pardon Hunter, should he be convicted. #hunter #biden ♬ original sound - Independent

This video shows several times in which Biden publically insisted that he would not pardon Hunter. This elite hypocrisy has become indicative of the Biden administration and the fuel behind Trump's overwhelming victory in November.

Biden owes KJP an apology.

Nobody has more egg on their face after this debacle than White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. As this video demonstrates, KJP repeated Biden's promise not to pardon his son. When Biden went back on his word, she had to scramble to provide some semblance of a defense for his decision.

The corporate media coverup.

The mainstream media belittled anyone who suggested that Biden would pardon Hunter. Now, these clips are a perfect example of the mainstream media's complicity of promoting whatever contradictory narrative emerges from the White House.

Who is Pam Bondi, Trump's new AG pick?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

With Matt Gaetz out of the picture, President Trump has already named former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his latest pick as his US Attorney General.

As US Attorney General, Bondi will be placed at the head of the Department of Justice, the most crucial role in Trump's plans to root out the deep state. As Glenn discussed on his radio show, the Biden White House has weaponized the Department of Justice, against President Trump in an attempt to thwart his 2024 re-election. The Department of Justice is crooked to the core, and it will take a herculean effort to bring enduring reform to this pivotal government agency.

Does Pam Bondi have what it takes to lead the Department of Justice? What does her resume look like? Does she have any skeletons in the closet that the Democrats could use against her? Here's everything you need to know about Pam Bondi below:

Bondi's Resume

Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Bondi started her career as a prosecutor working for the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office where she handled countless cases that ranged from domestic violence to murder. In 2010 Bondi made history by becoming Florida's first female attorney general. She spent her time in office fighting back against Florida's opioid crisis and openly challenged Obamacare.

Bondi worked with the first Trump administration, using her experience fighting the opioid crisis in Trump's Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission. After Trump was impeached for the first time, Bondi joined the team of defense lawyers fighting back against the prosecution's allegations.

Bondi has spent the last four years working for a Florida-based lobbying firm, but she still showed support for President Trump by making appearances alongside him during the New York City hush money trial.

Bondi's Dedication to fix the DoJ

Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Judging by her track record and the testimony of her colleagues, Bondi is more than capable of tackling the Department of Justice. Bondi has a record of following and enforcing the rule of law and has spent much of her career making communities safer. Bondi has firsthand experience with political elitists and corruption, having worked at nearly every level of the government from the bottom to the top.

Bondi stood by Trump as he faced impeachment and stayed by his side as he faced waves of lawfare after 2020. It's clear that Bondi has great respect for President Trump and is deeply familiar with the weaponization of the Department of Justice. It seems like she has what it takes to fix the system.

Bondi's Potential Controversies

Tom Williams / Contributor | Getty Images

The Mainstream Media wasted no time digging up dirt on Bondi, looking for anything that might stand between her and a Senate confirmation.

The biggest story circulating the media involves a 2013 case about "Trump University," a now-defunct company that offered courses in real estate, entrepreneurship, and other similar courses. In 2013, the New York Attorney General's office went after Trump University due to reports that the program was a "scam." Bondi began a similar investigation, which allegedly came to a halt after she received a $25,000 check from the Trump Foundation for her re-election campaign. Bondi has never been formally accused of illegal activity, but now that she is under the national spotlight, she could face serious scrutiny.

Bondi's tenure as a lobbyist has also been called into question. She was registered as a lobbyist for several foreign and corporate entities, which could be seen as a potential weakness or conflict of interest—or at the very least bring her dedication to fighting corruption into question.

AI Jesus and other INSANE new uses of Artificial Intelligence

Glenn has repeatedly warned about the dangers artificial intelligence poses to humanity. Yet, it seems like every week, some new AI project seems to inch us closer to that worst-case scenario.

It's not all bad. Even Glenn could resist the urge to buy an AI-powered, flamethrower-wielding, robotic dog to accompany him on his ranch. The future is here, and these are threeinsane new ways the power of AI is being harnessed — for better or worse.

AI Jesus

GraphicaArtis / Contributor | Getty Images

Many have wished to have a face-to-face conversation with Jesus, but this probably isn't what anyone had in mind. A church in Lucerne, Switzerland recently teamed up with scientists and computer experts from the nearby Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts to create a digital duplicate of Christ designed to listen to confessions and give scripture-supported advice to those who ask. The computer even creates a hologram image of Jesus that talks to people in real time. The AI was trained with the New Testament and "religious information found online," and is fluent in over 100 languages.

While some are impressed with his answers to moderately complex theological questions, many are skeptical, claiming that giving a machine the face and name of God is a form of idolatry. Others worry that it will turn Jesus into a "woke warrior."

AI Coca-Cola Ad

The holiday season is upon us, and Coca-Cola has released its newest Christmas ad campaign. These latest commercials feature shiny, Coca-Cola red semi-trucks driving through an idyllic winter wonderland on a mission to deliver soda to a festively decorated town — standard holiday ad fare. But this year, Coca-Cola decided to put a "futuristic spin" on their ad campaign — the commercials are all AI-generated. It doesn't take a detective to spot the tell-tale AI hallmarks, from truck wheels that don't spin as the truck is driving to the eerie expressions of the people in the ad that twist and contort in creepy ways. The holiday magic is lost.

AI Grandma

A British telecom company, Virgin Media O2, unveiled Daisy, an AI chatbot designed to scam the scammers. Daisy is designed to sound and talk like an elderly woman and is tasked to deliberately connect with telephone scammers (who typically target older people) and waste their time with heaps of meandering chatter so that scammers have less time to target real people. Daisy has already proved capable of fooling scammers into long phone conversations, which ultimately end up fruitless. Can you think of a better use of AI?

Glenn's Show Prep