Venting..Neighbor drove over and killed dog today.

shvl73 · May 18, 2006

( How people can hit something and not know, is beyond me. )

It appears that she did in fact know. At the very least, I would be filing a police report. I also think I would take measures to slow vehicles down on the section of driveway that crosses my property.

shvl73 · May 18, 2006

( How people can hit something and not know, is beyond me. )

It appears that she did in fact know. At the very least, I would be filing a police report. I also think I would take measures to slow vehicles down on the section of driveway that crosses my property.

Soundguy · May 18, 2006

I can almost understand not knowing exactly what you hit, as may be int he case of a dog jumping out from nowhere and you hit it.. But.. standard procedure, If you feel like your vehicle impacted something is to pull over in a safe spot an CHECK to see if or what you hit.. at least then there may be the option for medical attention, if possible... would have been a good gesture anyway...

Soundguy

Soundguy · May 18, 2006

I can almost understand not knowing exactly what you hit, as may be int he case of a dog jumping out from nowhere and you hit it.. But.. standard procedure, If you feel like your vehicle impacted something is to pull over in a safe spot an CHECK to see if or what you hit.. at least then there may be the option for medical attention, if possible... would have been a good gesture anyway...

Soundguy

Bird · May 18, 2006

( What do you do when your trusty companion is killed on your land by a neighbor's negligence? )

It seems that nearly everyone who responds to this topic, in this thread and others, agrees that the driver who hits a dog should stop, notify the owner, see if anything can be done to save the dog, etc.

Now I don't really disagree; we lost a border collie to an idiot who went flying down our road at twice the reasonable speed, and of course never slowed down, so I understand. But I'll just suggest something else to think about.

Suppose you hit a dog, or cat, and you stop to try to find the owner, help the animal, or whatever. An injured animal may try to bite you or may not. On the other hand, if the animal is dead, what good can you do for it? Then you find the owner. Maybe hitting the animal was your fault, and maybe it wasn't. But is the owner going to agree that it wasn't your fault? Not too likely. The owner is going to be emotionally upset, and understandably so, and may or may not also be quite irrational. If the animal is still alive, the owner is probably going to expect you to pay all medical bills, whether it was your fault or not. If it was your fault, that's a reasonable request in my opinion, but not if it was not your fault. And regardless of fault, or whether the animal was killed or only injured, the owner just may be irate enough to attack you physically, so it may turn out to be a dangerous situation.

In the case in this thread, did anyone see the accident (I say accident because I'm assuming she wouldn't hit the dog on purpose)? Was she driving unreasonably fast? Was the dog standing in the road where she could see it, or did it run into the road when she didn't have time to stop or avoid it? Are you currently on good terms with your neighbor? Will you be on good terms with him after the confrontation? It's a very sad and unfortunate thing to lose the dog, but nothing is going to bring him back.

Just a few things to think about.

Bird · May 18, 2006

( What do you do when your trusty companion is killed on your land by a neighbor's negligence? )

It seems that nearly everyone who responds to this topic, in this thread and others, agrees that the driver who hits a dog should stop, notify the owner, see if anything can be done to save the dog, etc.

Now I don't really disagree; we lost a border collie to an idiot who went flying down our road at twice the reasonable speed, and of course never slowed down, so I understand. But I'll just suggest something else to think about.

Suppose you hit a dog, or cat, and you stop to try to find the owner, help the animal, or whatever. An injured animal may try to bite you or may not. On the other hand, if the animal is dead, what good can you do for it? Then you find the owner. Maybe hitting the animal was your fault, and maybe it wasn't. But is the owner going to agree that it wasn't your fault? Not too likely. The owner is going to be emotionally upset, and understandably so, and may or may not also be quite irrational. If the animal is still alive, the owner is probably going to expect you to pay all medical bills, whether it was your fault or not. If it was your fault, that's a reasonable request in my opinion, but not if it was not your fault. And regardless of fault, or whether the animal was killed or only injured, the owner just may be irate enough to attack you physically, so it may turn out to be a dangerous situation.

In the case in this thread, did anyone see the accident (I say accident because I'm assuming she wouldn't hit the dog on purpose)? Was she driving unreasonably fast? Was the dog standing in the road where she could see it, or did it run into the road when she didn't have time to stop or avoid it? Are you currently on good terms with your neighbor? Will you be on good terms with him after the confrontation? It's a very sad and unfortunate thing to lose the dog, but nothing is going to bring him back.

Just a few things to think about.

beenthere · May 18, 2006

Very well said, Bird. Am thinking there are times I would stop, and times I wouldn't. If my animal was hit, and I thought someone needed a talking to, I'd call the police and discuss it with them. They are probably too busy to do anything, but at least it is an avenue that is less confrontational and lets the emotions simmer down.

I feel I am letting the animal (dumb as they are at times) down if I let it get into the situation where it was run over and killed. Have to think I was at fault, to a large extent. Doubt this neighbor did this deliberately. Fortunate it was not a child.

beenthere · May 18, 2006

Very well said, Bird. Am thinking there are times I would stop, and times I wouldn't. If my animal was hit, and I thought someone needed a talking to, I'd call the police and discuss it with them. They are probably too busy to do anything, but at least it is an avenue that is less confrontational and lets the emotions simmer down.

I feel I am letting the animal (dumb as they are at times) down if I let it get into the situation where it was run over and killed. Have to think I was at fault, to a large extent. Doubt this neighbor did this deliberately. Fortunate it was not a child.

ultrarunner · May 18, 2006

All good points… I appreciate everyone's insight at TBN.

I spoke with the neighbor family this morning. The daughter denied knowing anything. I was not able to look at her car.

I reminded her that I had stopped to see if she needed any help yesterday when I saw her parked on the side of the road looking under her car within minutes of the time Rudy was hit.

At first, she denied seeing or speaking with me, but when I pressed her, she said that she did not know why she had pulled over on a busy street to look under the car???

I need to add that the daughter was born with learning disabilities and her parents have worked very hard to have her mainstreamed all through her school years.

We left things cordial and the Father said he would give me a call later tonight after he had a chance to speak with her privately. The best I can hope for is that she will stop using my little country lane as a "Race Track"

ultrarunner · May 18, 2006

All good points… I appreciate everyone's insight at TBN.

I spoke with the neighbor family this morning. The daughter denied knowing anything. I was not able to look at her car.

I reminded her that I had stopped to see if she needed any help yesterday when I saw her parked on the side of the road looking under her car within minutes of the time Rudy was hit.

At first, she denied seeing or speaking with me, but when I pressed her, she said that she did not know why she had pulled over on a busy street to look under the car???

I need to add that the daughter was born with learning disabilities and her parents have worked very hard to have her mainstreamed all through her school years.

We left things cordial and the Father said he would give me a call later tonight after he had a chance to speak with her privately. The best I can hope for is that she will stop using my little country lane as a "Race Track"