Thursday, February 4, 2010

Heartsick

Oh my god. I just witnessed a JRT be hit and killed by a car. I was walking my boys up High Street in Canton, a pretty busy street that you can take to get to Sharon or Walpole.

The dog was in an unfenced backyard, off-leash, with a 7 or 9 year old boy playing with him. No adults in sight. The dog spotted my boys on the other side of the street and made a bee-line for them, the boy chasing after him.

I watched it happen in slow motion - there was nothing I could do. An SUV hit him and did not even stop. The dog was instantaneously dead. I suppose that is a blessing; given the dog's size and the speed the car was going he would likely have had to be euthanized anyway.

This is the second unattended dog I have seen hit by a car that was making a bee-line for my boys. The other dog did not appear to sustain any damage. What is wrong with people? Canton isn't rural. Not only is there a leash law, but it is never safe to have your dog unattended and off-leash in an unfenced yard.

Last week our across the street neighbor was getting into his car to go pick up his fiancée at the train station. He was bringing his two dogs, a mix and a PWC with him, they were not on leash. His dogs have played with Bug before. The Pem saw Bug and made a bee-line across the street for him. A car was coming. I screamed a terrible shriek and thankfully the driver stopped. I was so scared.

I feel so terrible about the JRT. I hope the boy is okay. Young boys can be funny about death - in that it doesn't bother them. I hope that is the case. I know I would be crying for days.

You HAVE to be careful.

10 comments:

Katrin said...

Oh god, so scary! Glad the kid didn't run into the road and get hit too. I am very sorry you had to see that. I wish people would be more careful!

Sam said...

Ugh. There were two offleash dogs in my area today -- one a large black dog, the other an absolutely terrified Pit mix. There was nothing I could do, as they were gone pretty much as soon as I noticed them. I hope this is not their fate.

It's really so awful of people to not contain their dogs properly. So much could go wrong - this is only one scenario, I can think of a thousand others, too.

So sorry you had to witness that. How terrible. :(

Sara said...

I just found out that an agility sheltie that has been missing for over a week was hit and killed by a car today. Tragic and sad.

I'm sorry you had to witness such a horrific sight.

Diana said...

OMG Im so sorry. How awful. diana

Taryn said...

That's so awful! The stuff of nightmare's really.

Dayna Dawn Small (aka Barter) said...

Yikes. That's awful. I don't understand why people on busy streets don't fence their yards or keep their dogs on leash. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac, surrounded by woods, and I'm still paranoid about taking my dogs to and from the car off leash.

Crazy Cardiness said...

How awful! I'm sorry that you had to witness that, and the poor little boy. At least the little boy was not injured.

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

OH how sad and scary! I really wish people really acknowledged or knew how fast that can happen and once it does you can not go back and be more careful. Hope your boys are ok, and the boy with the dog, and you.....

Nancy said...

Poor Jules, what a terrible thing to have happen. Can you believe that someone wouldn't stop after that?
Thank God the boy didn't get hurt as well.

Blue said...

This is so sad and scary! People need to realize that any dog could get distracted enough to run into a busy street. I'm sorry you had to see that. And the poor little boy too :(