OT - dog hit by car

[urge to herd]

I just got home from walking Shoshone, turned to walk up my driveway, heard a tiny thud and then a dog yelping.

 

The people across the street have some chihuahuas - THEY ARE NEVER ON LEASH! One of these poor little things ran out into the street and got hit. The woman was driving very slowly, and she stopped to see what had happened. The lady who owns the dog saw it, and the guy who had let the dog out of the house just stood there!

 

The little dog was conscious still and they took it the Emergency Vet close by. I'm still shaken up. The woman who hit the dog could only stand there and say, 'I didn't see it, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.' I tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault - she was driving less than the speed limit and there's no way she could have seen a dog that small from her car.

 

People do really, really, really stupid things and their animals suffer. It's very hard to see the results.

 

Ruth n the bc3

[smileyzookie]

Well Im glad the lady at least stopped. I'd feel so horrible hitting an animal. =(

[Lunar]

Oh no. That is aweful.

[WyoBC]

I feel really bad when ever I hit a rabbit or a deer, I can't even think how bad I would feel if I hit a dog or a cat. That's to bad that the owners aren't responsible enough to watch them.

 

So what happened to the dog? Did you ever hear?

[BayouBC]

It's the woman in the car that I feel most sorry for in this situation. Of course I feel sorry for the dog, but not so much for the owner since the dog is now suffering because of the owner's stupidity. But the poor woman in the car didn't really do anything wrong. I would feel so crushed if I hit a cat or dog...it's my biggest fear in driving around my neighborhood at night since there are dogs and cats left loose.

[urge to herd]

The chihauhau died not long after they got it to the vet. I'm torn between offering sympathy and pointing out the truth, that if that dog had been on a leash he would be alive.

 

Bayou, I agree with you about the woman driving the car - she was not at fault in any way. It must be one of the most terrible feelings in the world.

 

My feelings for the family who lost the dog are conflicted, as I said above. In the past I haven't been the most responsible pet owner, and my skin crawls to think about how close I've come to losing a dog due to my own negligence/ignorance on a couple occasions.

 

Thank you all for your replies and support. The sound of that dog being hit is something I never want to hear again.

 

Ruth n the BC3

[nancy in AZ]

Originally posted by urge to herd:

My feelings for the family who lost the dog are conflicted, as I said above. In the past I haven't been the most responsible pet owner, and my skin crawls to think about how close I've come to losing a dog due to my own negligence/ignorance on a couple occasions.

Ruth n the BC3

What will be worthy of note is whether or not this tragedy changes the behavior of the dog owners.

[bc friend]

Originally posted by BayouBC:

It's the woman in the car that I feel most sorry for in this situation.

I agree; it's clear that she was not at fault and probably couldn't have avoided the accident but I know that wouldn't matter to me if I were the driver - I'd still be devastated to know I had injured the animal.

[hoku's mum]

That is just so sad, for all involved. Sorry you had to see that and have that image in your head, Ruth. Some people are just so devastatingly stupid.

By the way, how is Shoshone doing?

[prosperia]

I lost my heart dog to the road, so I know how difficult it is, and I know what I did wrong and I will never repeat the mistakes I made with her. I should have known better, but I didnt. She was my first dog. My parents had always let their dogs out to potty unsupervised and never had any problems. I know its easy to be angry at someone for their ignorance. I was angry at myself, and Im sure they probably are to.

 

Having said that though, I saw somthing yesterday that floored me. We live on the main road that runs though our town. It is extremely busy. On our way home yesterday we had to stop because there was this hound mix wandering around in the middle of the road. Dh stopped and I opened the door and tried to call the dog to me, but he hesitated and went the other way. When we pulled into our driveway I looked back and instead of crossing to the other side of the street, the dog was just walking down the middle of the lane. Dh went back out and there were a couple of kids on skateboards and a woman (who I assume was their mother) comming down the sidewalk. The kid said that it was their dog. WTH!? :mad: DH said, "Well arent you worried that its going to get hit?" And the kid just shrugged and rode off. The dog was about a block away at that point and walking in the opposite direction. And they didnt even care! I stood there and watched them walk on down the street. They did not even a glance back to see where the dog was.