Handling an unfamiliar injured animal sounds like a good way to get a nasty bite. Call animal control or the police.
A bit off topic, but I’ve had encounters with lost animals (obviously owned by someone, with a collar and perhaps dragging a chain or leash) along busy roads before, and trying to get the animal out of harm’s way only made the problem worse. Some animals are just wary of strangers and run away, sometimes into traffic.
Why is it that nobody has questioned why the dog was running freely? In my city dog’s are required to be leashed at ALL times; this is for everybody’s safety, the dogs, little children, and innocent motorists.
Once in an heavily traveled street a dog ran in front of my car. Slamming on the brakes I nearly smashed it in completely view of a family having a BBQ on their front lawn. After scaring the hell of me and nearly causing another car of two to slam into the back of my car the dog ran innocently back to the family. I promptly rolled down my window and proceeded to scream at the family about how #ucking stupid they were letting their dog run free. I called the police when I got home and they said they would stop by the house; personally I hope the cops did go and give them an earful.
Meeko, everybody seems to be against you, but IMHO it’s the owners own fault letting the animal run free in an urban environment themselves.
Lets get something straight. When we drive/fly to some foreign country and drop millions of pounds of bombs out of the sky and blow the hell out of everything, we don’t go looking for injured people… We just don’t care.
That sentiment is reflected in some of the posts. Some states may have a law where you have to stop for dogs so then do it. Otherwise do what you want.
The thing to remember is that if you hit a human being with your car then you really should stop.
I believe legally you cannot be sued as it’s the pet’s owner’s resposibility to keep the dog clear of traffic (similar to children, if a kid crosses the street against a light/with no light and you hit the kid, you are never at fault). Right of Way rules states cars always have ROW along streets except at stop signs/red lights and crossing walk ways.
When I asked my insurance company about this sort of thing they implied that if I hit a dog and the owner is around they are responsible for damage to my car and can be sued.
The owners might not have let it run free, though. When my dog Princess was 8 months old, my parents bought her a lead for outdoors (she wasn’t a house dog) that was metal cable coated with plastic. It claimed that it was fine for dogs up to 150 pounds. Should have been fine for a 30lb puppy, right? First night she was on it she gnawed through it and was hit by a car. Fortunately she wasn’t killed, (had a broken pelvis that took months to heal, though) and she lived another 14 years after that. I’d say this is a really bad way of finding out your puppy is a good escape artist, and I’m sure she wasn’t the only one who was/is…
Meeko
You should also check your car. It sounds harsh, but hitting an animal isn’t good for your car either.
In California I think the owner of the dog (if there was any) is at fault. This is from the California Penal Code.
The animal was in a street and was not cared for, hence the owner would be guilty of a misdemeanor. Saying the dog got away is not a defense in this situation I believe.
Here’s my 2 cents. Some years ago when I was a fairly new driver I was heading towards home on a county road. About two blocks from home there as a large dog running around in the road along with a bunch of kids. Being the conscientious type that I am I slowed way down, slow enough to have to shift into 1st gear, as I attempted to get past the area. The dog wasn’t all that bright and kept coming after my car. Well somehow this dog ended up getting a leg under a front tire. Course it starts to howling and it spooked me (??) so much I stalled the car. I’m still on top of this dogs leg and it’s crying to beat the band. The kids are all yelling at me also, rightfully so. Well, I finally managed to restart the car and slowly drive off the dogs leg. Dog limped away toward the house I assume he lived at. I continued on towards home, and when I got there I asked my father what I should do. He told me it was a state law and I should call the police. This was in PA. I called the police and explained the entire situation. I can’t remember them ever coming to my home. My understanding since then is it is basically up to each state whether hitting a dog is reportable.
Fast forward about 35 years and I’m driving home again, but it’s middle of the night on a mostly unlit county road. It’s during the change of season when the days are nice and warm but the nights are pretty cool. All of a sudden I see a large dog in the middle of the road. It’s just lying there, soaking up the daytime heat from the road I’m sure. Well I swerved like crazy but just clipped the dog.
I stopped, got out and headed back to check the dog out. It’s sort of moaning and I thought I better get back in the car. I mean this BIG dog might really be TICKED and I’m not gonna give it a chance to take a BIG hunk out of my hide.
I turned around and drove about a 1/4 mile back to a convenience store and called the Sheriffs office. While waiting for the deputy to arrive a guy comes into the store. I donno why but I happened to mention hitting the dog. He said he had just hit it also and probably killed it. Deputy shows up and he and I drove back to the scene. Dog was dead, deputy looked for a license on it’s collar but there was none. It took me a while to get over that one. I still feel bad. I can’t remember what the law here (TN) is but I will always report it if it ever happens again.
I remember my father telling me after my first dog strike that hitting a dog with a car must be reported but if you hit a cat you don’t have to. Again, depends on the state.
As far as who carries a gun to put a dog out of it’s misery. Everyone should have a tie iron in their car. Seems like it would do a fairly quick job if need be.