Your dog could have been killed today
A couple of weeks ago, I braked to avoid hitting a yellow lab puppy standing on the edge of the highway. I pulled over and approached a nearby house, with the puppy eagerly following at my heels, jumping to lick my hands. The door was answered by a pleasant young woman, who seemed mildly concerned that her dog had been on the highway.
When I was driving to work today, I passed the badly mangled body of that puppy in the middle of the highway.
It was far from the first time. A couple of years ago I struck up a friendship with a beautiful, happy-go-lucky Boxer belonging to a neighbor. He ran free on his owner’s property, which was set quite a ways back from the road. He always left the property as I walked past with my dog, and more than once I saw him trotting along the edge of the highway. I spoke to the owners, who were concerned and vowed to be more careful.
That Boxer was struck by a car and killed. I’m not reciting horror stories for fun. I am writing this article in the hope that perhaps it will end up in the hands of at least one person who cares enough about their dog, or their neighbor’s dog, to prevent this from happening to it.
If you let your dog run free, or even take a chance of his escaping from your property, there is a very good chance that you will find him dead one of these days soon when you come home. Even if you think your dog stays on your property, there is a good possibility that he wanders off once in a while, and that is enough to get him killed.
Do you think your dog is “street smart,” and “wouldn’t let himself be hit by a car?” Some dogs may be capable of learning to avoid average vehicles, but no animal can be prepared for the speeding truck, or the malicious driver who speeds up and swerves to hit your dog.
If you’re still willing to take your chances, consider this: if your dog causes an accident, you may be legally liable. I witnessed an accident that occurred recently when a dog wandered into the road. The driver of a pickup truck slammed on the brakes in a futile attempt to avoid hitting the dog, and a split second liter, the car behind her slammed into the back of her truck, unable to stop in time. Luckily, in this case the only injured party was the dog. But just imagine the legal nightmare if one of the drivers had been seriously injured or killed.
You think you live too far away from any major road to be concerned about all this? “In the country,” perhaps? One of my rural neighbors thought the same thing. Her black lab stayed close to her house, which was on a gravel road at least a third of a mile away from the highway. One day she mentioned that “Ruby” was missing, and not long after that I spotted her body in the icy water filling the ditch along that highway.
It is easy to prevent this from happening to your dog. Keep him confined to your property at all times. Keep him in the house, in a fenced yard, in a kennel, or on a safe cable tie-out. For more information on these options click here. If you are unwilling to take these simple measures to keep your dog alive, please reconsider your decision to own an animal. Your dog would be better off living with someone who will ensure his safety.
Please do the intelligent and humane thing. Take effective measures, NOW, this very moment, to insure that your dog will not die unnecessarily under the wheels of a car.
If you would like a printer-friendly version of this article to give to a friend or neighbor, just click here. Taking a few minutes to give this to them, even anonymously, might help save a dog’s life.
This article written and copyrighted 2001 by Jessi Clark-White. All rights are reserved. This article may be reprinted and photocopied for educational purposes in its entirety only, provided this copyright notice remains intact. This article may not be duplicated in any other manner without written permission from the author.
