i was driving home from clinton, north carolina last night just before sunset. i saw two dogs running full-tilt across a field, one chasing the other. they were so happy, running as fast as their little legs could take them. they looked like black labs to me, but i could be wrong about that. i'm not good with dog breeds. they were relatively big dogs, though, and looked so carefree.
they were galloping across this field and heading straight towards the two-lane state highway i was on. i was going 60mph, watching these dogs get closer and closer to the road. it was clear they were intending to cross the highway and keep on running, running, running into a similar field across the pavement. as i watched them get closer i thought, "oh, jesus... dogs, don't run into the road." but that's exactly what they did.
the first dog, the one being chased by his friend, crossed the oncoming lane safely and i slowed down a bit to avoid hitting him as he crossed my lane. the second dog, though, ran into the road right in front of an oncoming SUV. that poor dog died a violent and instant death, under and around the tires of that vehicle.
i covered my mouth with my hands, gasped out loud and looked in my rear view window to see if the SUV was stopping. all i saw was an 18-wheeler bearing down on me; after watching that dog get hit i had apparently come to an almost full stop in the middle of the highway. i hit the gas and tried to speed up to keep from getting rear-ended. i looked back into the rear-view mirror and i saw the dog lying, still, between the two lanes.
crying, i kept driving. i knew there was nothing i could do to save the dog. i had heard the brutal impact --some 50 yards away, inside my car-- and knew, just knew, that poor creature was dead. so i kept driving, and the further i went the more awful i felt. a mile down the road i almost turned around. maybe i could check and see if the dog had a tag, i thought. maybe i could call the owner. maybe i could just move him off the road. but i kept driving, that 18-wheeler right behind me as i sped down the highway.
i keep replaying that moment in my head. the moment where the dog got hit, how he so violently tumbled under that SUV.
also, the moment when i chose to keep driving. i relive that horrible moment over and over and over. i am haunted by it.
Posted by xta at December 12, 2005 01:47 PM | TrackBackif you hadn't chosen to keep driving, you would have been killed by that 18 wheeler.
there was also nothing you could do for that dog, although i know all too well the feeling of, "maybe i could have done something." it's difficult to let go of. but that dog was dead, and going back for it on a highway would have endangered you. a lot.
sadly, the dog's owner bears the brunt of responsibility for what happened. it doesn't sound as if they were strays. they should not have been roaming unsupervised in an unfenced field.
Posted by: lisa at December 12, 2005 02:20 PMThere's something very mature and wise about acting out of self-preservation. Our station wagon got rear-ended at a nearby intersection this weekend--Nell's fine (carseats work), I've got whiplash, the car is trashed. The inescapable truth: We're mortal, and our bodies are much smaller and weaker than cars. You did the right thing.
Posted by: Penny at December 12, 2005 02:56 PMArrrggh! I wish I hadn't just read this! I saw a little dog get squashed under the wheels of a bus once, and a Doberman sent flying by an 18-wheeler. Awful, awful, awful.
Peeps, keep your dogs indoors or behind a secure fence!!
Posted by: Lisa B at December 12, 2005 04:07 PMI have taken out two animals personally. The first one was a racoon that I sent my boyfriend into the road to rescue because it was moving (this was on a busy section of HWY 135 in Indy). I was sobbing "SAVE IT" which was retarded because I had hit it pretty hard when it ran out in front of me, and my only option was to hit it or go headfirst into oncoming traffic, which was a dumptruck.
The second time I had almost EXACTLY the same dog experience......except I was the car who HIT the dog as well as had the SEMI right behind me and I had nowhere to go.
It's such a terrible emotional experience. I am so sorry that happened to you.......it's just the worst sort of helpless feeling, I know.
I'm so sorry that memory is pressed in your head...so sorry you had to see it -
it could not have been helped and you certainly came near enough to being in danger yourself.
I'm glad you are safe.
Posted by: blackbird at December 14, 2005 08:59 PM