tw: animal abuse/ neglect

I know this subforum is meant to be for a healthy distraction, but I have no idea where else to put this.

A few years ago, my mom got a dog from her coworker, who entrusted the dog to us for a forever home. Within the three or so days that we had it, it quickly became mine, as I loved the little dog Riker and everyone else apparently hated him. He was just a little hyper, that's all, he wasn't bad, he didn't destroy furniture, and I was working on getting the cats used to him.

I went somewhere after a few days of having Riker, and when I came back he was gone and my family told me he ran away, which I believed for a year or so- that is, until my sister accidentally let it slip that she and my dad took Riker and drove him off miles away, and abandoned him in some random neighborhood.
I live in South Central TX, and there's a rampant problem with strays and missing dogs down here, so not a lot of dogs actually get saved. And when they did it it was the hottest part of summer, where it gets up to 110 degrees. So there is little chance that someone noticed him and took him to a shelter or kept him. He was small and unnoticeable.

Its been maybe a year and a half since I found out, and I still think about him a lot because I want a service dog, but I'm worried. Every time I think about him I cry. I know abandoning an animal counts as cruelty, but where I live you can't be fined for it, and I don't have intentions of getting the law involved.

The main reason why I posted this, was because every time I mention it I get upset, and my family brushes it off. I was talking about it with my mom, and she sighed and said to "let it go, it's been a few years already". How can I let it go?? He was an innocent little dog and my dad left him somewhere, all because they didn't like him. I can't forgive his cruelty, I get so so angry thinking about it.
I can't stop thinking about how much I grew to love him in those few days, and how much more i could have loved him and cared for him if my dad hadn't done that. How can I properly grieve for my little dog when something like this happened to him?

I'm so sorry. I'm not sure what to say about grieving. Do you have any pictures? Maybe you could write a remembrance and have a little service, maybe with some friends?

I know you are not alone in this type of sad situation. My sister and I had a mom cat and four kittens. My mother told us we each could pick out one kitten for our own, so we did. The other two, she said, would be given away. And they disappeared. But one morning we got up, after we had gotten used to our kitties, and the mom cat and my sis's cat were gone. For years we were led to believe that they just ran away, and my sister was crushed that her kitty had left her. Years later we found out that my parents had taken the cats and just dumped them out. So, I can understand how you feel, except they kept my cat---who knows why.

Transient, I don't have any words to take your pain away. I'm so sorry this happened. Trav had some good suggestions. Would it help to make a donation to a rescue group in Riker's name?

Personally, I hope there is a special place in hell for people who abandon animals. Your father and sister should be ashamed.