Devastated.

I woke up this morning around 7 a.m. with a soaking wet pillow. I was exhausted, and realized I'd been bawling my eyes out last night. I couldn't recall having a dream, but assumed it was some sort of nightmare because I don't usually cry during dreams.

At 9 a.m. my phone rang and it was Cottage Kennel in Concord, where I'd boarded my pets while I was here in San Diego. The owner carefully assured me that the dogs were okay, but suddenly her voice quieted.

"I'm not sure what happened, but sometime last night it got too hot in the chinchilla's room and...they're both dead."

I stopped breathing. I told her I needed to get off the phone, and I curled into the fetal position on my hotel room chair. My sister jumped out of bed and ran to me, as I bawled incoherently, shaking and hiccuping and not breathing. I tried calling Brian 20 times but he was tied up in ship business until I finally got to talk to him.

I can't begin to put into words how hurt I am for them. Overheating in chinchillas is a slow process, they essentially suffocate slowly in their own body heat, and could have laid there for hours dying. The thought of them in pain literally made me throw up earlier, partially from crying so hard. Thor was my little girl, my first pet with Brian and my only companion until we adopted the dogs.

Brian has just assigned his Power of Attorney to me to use for military legal counsel. We are taking the kennel to small claims court, not for any monetary or replacement purposes but to ensure that they lose their small animals license. We don't want another owner to have to go through the grief and heartbreak we've just endured.

Please, please pray that my babies are in a better place and that they didn't suffer much. I have to pick the dogs up tomorrow morning and I have no idea how I'll deal with seeing the people who let my chinchillas die.