She was a little girl who was well-loved by her owner. She owned her since she was a puppy and she cared for her deeply. Ten seconds off the leash, while she went to get a poop bag from her apartment, was all it took.
The little dog loved skateboards, and like to playfully chase after the kids riding them. As the woman went to get something necessary for their walk, a couple of kids came down the street on their boards. The little dog, Sophia, who normally waited obediently for her master, couldn’t resist the love of the chase and darted into the street. The inevitable collision of a huge mass with such a small one resulted in instant death.
The car stopped and the driver and passenger leaped out and raced back to help, but it was all over for poor Sophia. Her owner came upon the scene and her shrieks of anguish brought us out of the house on the run. The young driver was holding the owner’s hand and apologizing and all were in tears. Neighbors appeared out of nowhere and scooped the lifeless body into a suitable box, while another man cleaned the gore from the street with a garden hose. My wife hugged the young woman and led her away from the carnage to our home, where she sat and sobbed while waiting for her mother to come from 20 miles away. I tried to distract her with general chat, but every few minutes she would collapse into tears. I fixed her a cup of tea and we sat trying to console her for an inconsolable loss.
Sophia was just a small dog, but clearly a huge part of this young woman’s heart, which was ripped out on a cold, sunny day in Portland.
Thank you for the reminder. I never let my small dog outside without a leash. I can’t trust him not to chase squirrels and cats. But sometimes I get tempted when my hands are full and the weather’s bad. I know how much he loves to run. I’m sorry, little dog, but it’s the leash for you.
Reminds me of a time, a few years back, when my parents came up to visit us. We were driving somewhere on the freeway, and approached a motorhome parked off on the side of the road, maybe having mechanical trouble. The door opened and a little dog darted out, straight into traffic, followed by a young child frantically trying to grab it. The kid stopped at the roadside. The dog didn’t. There was nothing anybody could do. We watched it all happen from a few car lengths back. To this day I can’t get that image out of my mind.
Sad. I don’t quite understand why people own pets, but people should be kind to animals. I’m not saying this woman was unkind, or that I’m placing blame. I just mean it in general.
Chefguy, your story broke my heart. I have a little dog who is also a loyal companion. He, too, loves to chase thrown toys and will follow people anywhere with no regard for his own safety. I can only begin to imagine the enormity of her loss. Thank you for the reminder to never be careless with our pets, even for a moment.
Oh, Baker, your story is equally sad. Really brought on the tears because my little guy is also a mini-Dachshund. They live to play, clown, entertain and love, don’t they? He inveigled his way into my heart exactly as your Quickster did into yours. I am so sorry you lost her but am glad you have a new companion.
Years ago I saw a woman come out of her building with her unleashed chihuahua, who promptly ran yapping into the street and was taken out by a car. The driver apparently didn’t even see that he had obliterated the chihuahua. I don’t think the chihuahua saw it coming either. The poor woman went into shock.
Saw it happen too. The dog followed me and since I was headed towards the bus stop I thought “This isn’t good.” But I had no idea who the owner was and I was in a hurry and anyway don’t most doggies lose interest in you after following you about one block?
This one kept following me, inevitable happened…A couple good Samaritans pulled it out of the road to take it to the vet. I think it might have survived.
Quite the opposite. She’s a very nice person and cared deeply about her dog. She took it with her to Paris for a couple of years, and took it to work with her when able. She was overwhelmed with guilt and grief. The grief may subside, but the guilt will likely stay with her for a very long time. The sight of her standing in the street, staring in shock and horror at the bloody remains of her pet will stay with me for some time, as well. It brought back my own sad memories of a beloved pet lying in a roadway some 40 years ago.
And there was the time I tried to get the the ring neck parrots away from the cockies and one, in fear, ran to me and the foot slipped. God damn me to Hell, I killed my best friend.
You always come across as a nice person, so I hope you don’t take this wrong. Since you’ve expressed a couple of times that you don’t understand why people own pets, maybe you really should avoid posting in a thread like this.
I know how hard it can be to let go of guilt, but please try not to be so hard on yourself. Sadly, these kinds of accidents are not uncommon. I know of cases where people have accidentally killed their kitten or puppy by accidentally stepping on it.
You had good intentions and I am quite sure you never meant to hurt your friend.
It isn’t your fault that something you never wanted to do happened by mistake.
As for the OP, sadly true that little dogs usually have no chance when hit by a car.
Of course, large dogs need to be watched carefully too. My friend who lives in a rural area had a labrador that he loved. In the country I don’t think anyone considers it unusual to have a dog off leash, but unfortunately in this case the dog ran out in the road after a squirrel at the wrong time and ended up being killed by a car. It was heartbreaking.
I am sure that this owner hates herself for allowing this to happen, but sadly all of us make mistakes sometimes. I know that I have had a couple of close calls with my own dogs over the years (my first dog was usually extremely good about staying with us at all times, a true velcro dog, but ran across the road once to chase a squirrel - thank God that there wasn’t a car at the time. With my current dogs, I have had a few incidents where I have accidentally dropped their leashes or they have slipped out the door before I could leash them). The only reason I haven’t had a similar tragedy is just luck, not that I am any better.
We were traveling on some Interstate years ago when I spotted what appeared to be the lifeless body of a Golden Retriever in the breakdown lane near a rest area.
A follow-up to the story. The young woman came over yesterday to show us her new rescue dog; a black pit-lab mix puppy named Charlie, who is the sweetest little mutt you ever saw. She said she remembered what I said to her that bad day about how there are a lot of dogs that need a good home. Happy for her.
I’m glad she has a new dog. He will help her heal from her loss. Pit-lab mixes are, indeed, the goofiest and most lovable of mutts.
A lot of people don’t like leash laws, but they don’t realize the laws are in place to save lives and prevent situations like this poor girl went through.
