I Hit A Dog

[SteveZ]

Last night while heading to the store on a dark 4 lane road, I had a dog bolt out of no where right in front of my car...I locked the brakes up as fast as possible but the road was wet and I hit the dog. I saw the dog tumble in front of my car as I apparently pushed it rather than it going under. I pulled over and watched the dog limp across the road. About this time the dogs owner came running up the street trying to find their lost dog. Apparently they were having a New Years party at their house and someone started lighting off fireworks...the dog got frightened and ran.

We found the dog laying in a ditch on the opposite side of the road still alive...when the owner saw it..she lost it and went into shock (got sick and nearly fainted)....the dog tried to move and I put my left hand out toward its shoulder because I didn't want it to run back into traffic and get hit again.

I'm not really sure what happened exactly next...but the next think I know...my hand is in extreme pain and I then realized that the dog had clamped down on my left hand and wasn't about ready to let go.....somehow I got my hand back...but the dog then had my right thumb in its mouth and was biting down hard....and then finally let go. The owner then ran away (now really freaked out what had happened) and her son showed up with some blankets to try and capture the dog and take it to the Vet ER.

At this point, I'm wondering if I've got a broken left hand and right thumb as my hands were in extreme pain and swelling rapidly....of course, I've now lost a fair amount of blood...all over my jeans. I decided it was probably time to drive straight to the ER.

The good news is that neither of may hands are broken. My left hand is still sore with 8 puncture wounds...but my right thumb is a mess and I'm afraid to look at it. One of the dogs teeth caused a laceration under my right thumbnail (cracking it down the middle)...they wanted to remove the nail but I decided that I'd rather just let it fall off on its own. At this point, I can't really use either of my hands....and all of this now puts the Western States Single Stack Championship at the end of the month in jepordy as I don't know if I'll be able to pick up a gun let alone shoot one.

The worst news came today when the owner of the dog called to let me know how the dog was doing. She told me that they had to put the down down...it had broken ribs, a fractured skull, a detached heart and its rear legs appeared to be paralyzed. The vet told them that even if the dog was able to survive, its outlook wasn't good. I've never hit an animal before and hope it never happens again. I feel bad for the owners and the dog.

[SiG Lady]

God. What a horrible day for all of you. I'm surprised you didn't lose a finger... or two. You know what they say about injured animals, though. *Sigh* I feel bad for all concerned.

I was cruising along at about 30mph on a side street one day and had a cat dash suddenly out of some shrubbery, do a roll-n-tumble under the front wheels of my car (whatta racket!) and literally FLY across the street and disappear completely. I had NO notion whatsoever where the cat went but felt bad that it may be injured and laying around in some kind of agony and dying, etc. There was NOTHING I could do. What made this so weird was it was approximately Horrid Incident That Day No. 6 and I wondered if I should just drive home, pull the shades and HIDE. I seriously considered it. It was just one of those days where EVERYTHING weird that could've happened DID happen. The cat was just the last straw.

[AlamoShooter]

I hit one once 20 + years ago, your story reminded me. ,,that even with two banged up hands you can type and spell better than me.

your actions sound nobile, only the owners of the dog should feal bad

[XRe]

Really sorry to hear about this I've hit a couple of animals - squirrels, birds (flying birds, no less), etc - I always feel horrible afterwards. You did the best you could, man - it was just his time, unfortunately.

I hope your hands heal up quickly and completely!!!

[Sam]

Steve, I'm very sorry this happened to you. And I hope your hands heal quickly my friend.

There is no way that this is your fault. Fireworks often scare the crap out of domestic animals, the owners should have kept the animal restrained. Had it been another driver instead of you, there may have been a much worse outcome. It was a sad way to meet the neighbors, but maybe some good will come of it some day.

[Sixgun]

Steve,

Glad to hear that you will be OK. I wish you a speedy recovery.

It sounds like you did everything you could to try and avoid what occured. It's not your fault, so don't beat yourself up too badly about it.

Ray

Edited January 2, 2006 by Sixgun

[lynn jones]

Steve,

the owner of the dog is responsible for your medical bills and any damage to your car.

i've had the same experience, without the bites.

get well soon,

lynn

[standles]

You don't have to be moving. I got up for work one morning and went to crank the truck. There was a God-Awful noise and a thump. A cat had apparently been hiding in the engine compartment of my truck from the cold rain the night before. It left flying bits of fur all under the truck but it ran off. It was enough to cause the fan belt to jump off the pulleys.

As for your situation steve, Nothing you could do. I have hit one or two in my life as well. I decided a long time ago that I will try to mis them but I am not goin to lock up brakes or swerve violently and loose control of my vehicle. While the death of an animal is sad it doesn't come close to injury to myself or another mortirist if I loose control.

Steven

[Merlin Orr]

.......I decided a long time ago that I will try to mis them but I am not goin to lock up brakes or swerve violently and loose control of my vehicle. While the death of an animal is sad it doesn't come close to injury to myself or another mortirist if I loose control.

Steven

+1. I love animals and respect their place in life, but.........

[SteveZ]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. Went back in to see the doctor today....I've got an infection in both hands right now (but hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and start taking care of that). My car is fine (at least I think it is...I really haven't looked at it that closely) and I'm not going to bother the owner with my medical bills....they've been through enough already...and thats why I've got medical insurance.

The doctor said my hands should be better in 10 days so I should still be good for the WSSSC match at the end of the month.

Edited January 2, 2006 by SteveZ

[Nolan]

and I'm not going to bother the owner with my medical bills....they've been through enough already...and thats why I've got medical insurance.

Steve, I sincerely hope your hands do get better, but you absolutely do need to file against the dog's owners. They were negligent in not controlling their pet. I'm not a fan of lawsuits for the sake of lawsuits, nor am I a lawyer and I haven't ever slept in a Holiday Inn Express, but I think you need to cover your posterior on this one in case you have bigger problems with your hands in the future.

Nolan

[AustinMike]

What an awful feeling! I've had some very close calls with 4-legged creatures on my motorcycle. So far, the only things I've hit (or hit me actually) have been birds. One small bird swooped down into my path and smacked just below my knee at about 50mph. Shower of feathers and the force knocked my leg off the peg. I was just bruised a bit. Had another encounter where a huge pigeon hit one of my mirrors. Knocked the mirror loose and blew feathers in my face was all.

[John Heiter]

Steve,

Thank you for reminding me that there are still a few folks left in the world who understand what an accident is and that sometimes tragedies happen that are no one's fault. If the dog had a history of roaming the streets chasing cars or if it was known to be vicious or something like that then maybe it would be different but a dog getting loose during a party is just one of those things. It sounds like these folks loved their dog and they've just lost a member of their family so I really appreciate you for understanding that and not wanting to do anything to add to their suffering even if it winds up costing you to do so.

Much Respect,

John

[Sam]

+1 to that John!

[Jasonub]

had a cat sleeping on my tire and it was not a pretty sight

also there was a puppy sleeping behind my tire again a few months ago. Now i make it a point to look and honk my horn to let those animals leave before i back up.

the puppy was fine btw. just scared me when it cried in pain. apparently the tail got the tire treatment

[spook]

Sorry to hear it Steve

John said it all! IMO you couldn't have handles this better. Ihope I never have to go through this, but if I do, I hope I'll handle it the same way

Edited January 4, 2006 by spook

[chuckbradley]

Steve, I have hit a few animals and even had to put a couple out of their misery after the fact. Yep I live in Kentucky and am old fashioned. As a dog owner I have had 3 dogs run over. Yea you want to blame the driver at first but realize its not their fault when the shock is over. I actually watched one dog get run over right in front of me. I just got home and wetn across the street to get the mail. Our dog , April, was so glad to see me she ran across the road to me. She was the sweetest dog I ever knew. She was hit literally 3 feet from me. If the driver hadnt let off the brakes and let the tires run over her she may have lived. She died on the way to the vet. Of course it took a while to find one willing to see her after 5:00 pm. The second was found by the neighbor, it was dead along side the road. The third was recently, she was a 10 month old Chocalte Lab, great dog. We live on 26 acres so I let the dogs run. I believe 10 months roaming free is better than a lifetime caged up. A freind stopped to let us know she was hit and we found her alive but she died on the way to the vet. So as a dog owner I accept the risk and know of the possibility that they will get hit. Its just part of dog ownership. Our other dog was actually hit by my wife in our driveway. It wasnt serious but it taught him to stay off the road and away from cars. He has been running free for 5 years now. I have my suspicions that when we get a new dog he takes them to the road to get rid of the competition. So dont take it too hard. Just get your hands healed and its a good idea to never approach an injured dog . They go into survival mode and attack. I even approached the Lab with caution when i picked her up to put her in the car. Use extreme caution when doing so, especially if you arent familiar to the dog.

[Azone41]

33 years ago I was in high school. There was this girl that I really liked and she lived 3 blocks from my house. I was on the school work program and got out of school early so I could go to my part time job. I was on my way home to change for work and this girls toy poodle had got out of the yard and I hit it. I stopped and picked up the little dog and it died in my hands. I was sick about what happened and so I took the dog out to the country and buried it. I never told the girl about it because I thought it would be better if she just didn't know. Besides I felt that my chances with her would be greatly diminished I she knew I had killed her dog. I lost a minature Dachsund that we had had for 10 years when it got out and got hit by a car just up the road from our house a few years ago it's hard on the family to lose a pet because they become part of the family. Sorry for your pain.