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I just ran over a dog today =(

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Here in Cali. it is a crime to hit & run on an animal. But you are free to cause riots at NBA games and shoot innocent people without much worry of getting poped... 🙁


So don't worry to much JM
 
Hey Joey-

I have hit many a critter in my driving years. Living in the backwoods...hit a deer, a possum...dog and cat and a few rabbits. I have put many miles on vehicles, so proportionatly(and with calculating the "backwoods" environment) I have hit a sad but average amount of critters. I can remember the first...a poor little...SLOW possum crossing the road around a bend- I was 16. It moved slow, left the right, trying to move. I missed it with my front 2, but in a van, it's hard to swerve on a 2 laner going 45 already turning...and hit it with my back 2. I felt sick...and I hurt...a little. So...my question to everyone else is, would you have badgered me then for that? My first experience with killing, much like Joey's. How do you think that would have made you feel those years ago when you did it? You a$$'s want to get technical, well then people shouldn't "own" dogs, because that's cruel, you selfless mules! What the hell is wrong with you. He was unsure about the situation = Unknown = Fight or Flight....and what did the rest of you do your first time.

Joeyman, out on a back country road reaching dusk, it would have been hard to find the owner....and anyone here who would even attempt would give up. You did what was right for you...and that is not wrong. People here are just sick...sicker than they say you are, which you're not. You're just human. Perhaps the dog was a stray...because when I lived in the country, our dog stayed near home...all others were dirty strays...and would often torment our dogs, murder cats...what's worse? Nobody here knows, so the only response should have been:

"I feel ya Joeyman, that really sux🙁."

Jeez you people...YOU make me sick!
 
Joey, If you havent got the nouse to stop & get out when you hit a living critter & either put it in the car & drive it to the vet, or call the RSPCA or put it out of its misery, you should tear up your drivers license & start taking publc transport. I've put 2 animals out of their misery, because when one has to do it, one has to do it. First was a feral rabbit with Mixo' (Mixo', its short for Mixamatosis is a introduced disease for killing feral rabbits, its a very slow painful death where they get covered in boils & abscess & go blind, then eventually die). I've also killed a immature baby kangaroo (when in the pouch they are blind & hairless & are no more developed than a baby born 4 months premature), it was cought in a barbed wire fence & was shivering & bleeding to death - I don't know how it got there, it wasnt due to leave the pouch for at least another 5 months. Now if you can't get out of a car & check on a dog you hit & either call for help, take it to a vet or put it out of misery you shouldnt be driving. Its that simple.

there's no reason to go so nuts over this. i was a DOG. an animal with an intelligence level no where near the human being, plus dogs are bread in millions, often carelessly.

BTW Prodigy if intelligence is such a factor, the vast majority of dogs are more intelligent than the vast majority of human babies (I know that my Kelpie sheepdog is more intelligent than most of those 'special' kids you see in mini buses & is definitly more intelligent than the average 3 year old infant). So does this mean If I run over a baby, you'll think it be ok if I don't bother stopping, because it may be a bit upsetting? Plus humans breed more carelessly & by many more millions (6 billion in fact) than dogs do.
 
OMG some of you people with pretence of a higher moral ground are really sad. Do you expect people to react to everything rationally like a robot?



<< suddenly the dog bounds out from the trees 20 feet in front of me >>



That must have given JM an awful fright especially with him travelling at 60. Since he's driving 'in the middle of nowhere' where presumably nothing much happens on the road the surprise would have jolted anyone out of his wits.



<< I've never really killed anything >>



Not everybody reacts to a &quot;real kill&quot; similarly the first time round (stepping on ants don't count 😉). How many of you can say you would remember to call the animal society the first time something as shocking as killing an animal and seeing it die happens? Running away is admittedly a cowardly action but understandable human nature.

Remember some people get shocked more easily. Maybe JM loves animals more than some of you who don't seem to get disturbed deeply after killing a living, breathing entity.
 
Well if he can't handle the shock of checking on a injured dog, how's he going to cope if some kid runs out in front of his car.

Really he shouldn't be driving it he can't handle the responsabilities that come with driving a car.

Cars are just as deadly as guns, some would say more so, &amp; as there are rsposabilities one has when owning a gun, there are responsabilities that come with driving a car.
 
Joeyman, I just carefully re-read you post. You said the dog caused another car to swerve way up in front of you and then &quot;chases the car for awhile.&quot;

Dog that chase cars usually have this habit deeply ingrained. Their owner is just as screwed up as the dog is for allowing it. Consider what you did a service to humanity as this dog did not cause an accident later on. You are not responsible.

However, it is proper to stop and call at the nearest phone. Then your legal responsibilities are over and your conscience can rest.
 
What would you all have said if Joey had run over a cat instead of a dog? While growing up, I have watched a cat get hit by a car on the first day of school one year, the driver just kept going, I have found 2 or 3 of our cats dead on the side of the road, and also just 2 years ago, the whole family's favorite cat was run over by a hay mower. We live out in the country. A lot of times, you can't stop just to see if an animal's ok. I have watched my dad run over a cat before, and it made me feel sick - I would have swerved into the other lane to miss it, but he didnt. Our one and only dog stayed out of the road for the most part, but we did have to put her down later on.

My point is, Yes, it is sad that Joey hit a dog. That's terrible. I would feel the same way he did, but also, you don't have an automatic obligation to stop. Some people do, and some don't. It's a cruel, cruel world out there, and this is no reason to jump all over and beat the crap out of someone because they posted the message on the forums.

You never know, this could even just be a sick and twisted joke.
 
Joeyman

Don't sweat the small stuff in life. It was a dog. You didn't want to harm the animal. It jumped out and you reacted the best you could. The owner, if there was one, should've kept his/her animals locked/tied up. The owners, in essence, killed the dog.

As far as getting out of the car and checking on the dog. You did the correct thing. No one should EVER approach an injured animal (rabies, aggressive behavior, etc). I watched my dog get mowed down by a truck and it crumpled on the side of the highway. I got to the dog, and it tried to bite me. My family had the dog since he was a puppy, yet it snapped at me.

As far as calling 911, the police, etc: Maybe you should have...maybe not. You are not evil or sadistic because you didn't call for help. I have lived in rural areas all my life. The response time for animal control or anyone for that matter would still have been the same. Most &quot;in the middle of the nowhere&quot; rural areas just dont have the manpower or resources to worry about a dead dog.

 
Mariah21, cats' don't chase cars. They are usually crossing the road at the wrong time.

This dog chased cars. As long as it continued this dangerous behavior, it was a danger to drivers. The owner is at fault.

As to calling 9-1-1, it depends on the law in your state. At least the police can report it to be cleaned up and notify the owner if it had tags. Plus, if your car was damaged you can compel the dog's owner to pay for it.

EDIT: If you hit a rabbit with your car, there isn't much to identify, let alone &quot;save&quot;.

As for approaching an injured animal - bad idea - anyone see &quot;Wolf&quot; with Jack Nickelson?
 
I hit a butterfly once..I stopped and started CPR..the poor soul died before the medivac got there. I cried for weeks.

Come on people it was a dog, I have hit animals and I do not stop unless i am in a neighborhood and then I try to find an owner. I he did stop and the dog was still alive what was he suppouse to do..pick up an unfimiliar animal that is in extreme pain..then he risk getting bite by a possibly rabid animal.

Since moving the dog is out of the question then only only alternative is to get back in the car and run back over the dog several times to end its suffering...who wants to repeatedly run over a dog??



If I called a vet and told him that I just ran over a dog that was miles out of town in the boondocks..I am sure that he will shut down his office and rush to the scene...YEAH RIGHT!!

Joeyman...I would have done the same thing...felt very terrible for running over the poor animal but would have continued on my way.

To everyone here that is giving Joeyman a hard time...There are about 10 rabbits that populate my yard..you have one week to perform an emergency evacuation before they go in my freezer. 🙂
 
Dabanshee Leave the guy alone. your putting way too much emphasis on this.....It was not a human, it was a dog. If he had hit a human and ran off, I would be calling the police right now. But it was a dog. I mean its not like he came on here and said &quot;ha ha I plowed over this stupid mutt on the road today.&quot; He is genuinly remorseful for what happened.
 
While it would have been nice if Joeyman had stopped and tried to help the dog he didn't, for reasons of his own. He alone has to live with the decision he made.

I have been in a similar situation and run over a dog that run in front of my car, all while the owners child stood in the front yard and watched. There was nothing I could do, a tree blocked my view and I didn't even have time to swerve. I turned back around and helped the man get the dog out of the road. The dog died before we even got it back to his house. I felt horrible with that child bawling her eyes out, and I'll remember her face for the rest of my life. 🙁

While the man was nice enough, the house they lived in was rough and they had the reputation of being drug dealers. I found this out later that afternoon. I have no idea if it was true or not, but it did make me start thinking. What if the man had not been as understanding or had been hopped up on coke? It's a pretty common thing to see someone go ballistic over much less than that with the state of the world being what it is today. So while it's definitely a sad thing that happened I can understand why someone might be reluctant to find the owner.

The sole responsibility for this does fall back onto the owner of the pet. If you think you are responsible enough to have a pet,you should have enough sense to make sure that that the pet cannot make his way into the road. I see too many people around where I live that let their pets run free. That is just as cruel as not providing food and water for them. Pets do not know or understand the implications of running in front of a vehicle until it is too late. It is your responsibility as a pet owner to make sure that can never take place.

Pets that run free are also a nuisance to your neighbors, people walking or jogging, meter readers and other utility and road maintainance people. These people often carry various dog sprays or sticks and could possibly use them on you pet if they feel they are in danger. Would anyone want their pet subjected to this??

If anyone would like to report someone in this instance to the SPCA, you need to make sure it's the owner you report. It should be checked that he had provided adequate protection for his pet, and hopefully they would find that the dog had just gotten loose. However it wouldn't surprise me if they found out otherwise.
 
Go on with life Joey. There was nothing wrong with what you did, not a thing. Roads are for cars, not dogs chasing cars.

Hesus ! givin the guy crap for hitting a dog ? I would say that borders on cruel &amp; unusual punishment.
 
it's all and well to say the moral thing to do as far as stopping and all... and i do agree it would be best... but you do not know how the owners could react to it. there are some craaazy people out there and they sometimes own guns. And people sure have been shot for a whole lot less. So while it would be a caring thing to do,
no use in liosing two lives.


and i do not believe it is against the law to run over an animal if it is IN THE ROAD.

someone had mentioned an organization could press that.
 
I heard a dog get hit in front of my house when I was about 20. The woman who hit the dog was crying and the dog was, well, screaming really is the only word for it. Then it lay it's head down on the pavement, and I knew it was unconscious. There was a vet about a mile down the road, and I told her she was going to take the dog in...she started freaking out, but I got a blanket, pushed the dogs' intestines back where they belonged, and carried the damn thing in my lap while she raced to the vet.

That dog spent a couple of month's at the vet's but eventually went home...and it lived another 4 years. But the thing was in pain a lot, and we had to give it pills every day so it would feel better. Man, my dad loved that dog.

Everyone handles such a situation differently. Hopefully, you grew up a little on that day...and if it happens again, you will have the testicles to stop somewhere and make the call. It is much harder, but a lot more satisfying in the long run, to know you did the right thing.
 
KRAIKEY

out in the outback, many a poor animal hast i jogged to an obscure aboriginee `illage, only to be attacked by the natives!

i've the spear wounds 'ere an 'ere... blimey they hurt!!!


so &quot;dabanshee&quot;... when rescuing kangaroos and dingos an the ole crock, f!ck it leave `em to rot!

 
Joey, thank God YOU are all right. A friend of mine swerved to miss a dog and it cost her her life. She was doing about 40. And what are you going to do if you stop? Perform a miracle?

So, you can stop and get bit by a dying dog as you try to retrieve the tags, or

You can keep going and not think about it, or

You can keep going and call the police when you get home.

Its probably not too late to do the latter.
 
Well if if one is miles out, &amp; doesnt have a mobile phone, &amp; you don't want the car upholstery to get covered in blood taking it to the vet, the least you can do is get a big rock &amp; put it out of it misery, unless it looks like the dog will have a bit of a shake &amp; be ok.
 
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