tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 1 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 8:11:02 PM | I have a question that I guess I never knew had more than one answer to it. I have had some bad luck lately, got kicked out of my boyfriend's house because he decided he liked another woman better than he did me, and had to move in with my mom. My mom is not allowed to have pets at her place. I have a dog that means the world to me. She has been staying with my grandfather who is 91 years old way out in the middle of nowhere. There is very little traffic on this road, and when I say very little, I mean it would be considered busy if there were more than 5 cars in 1 entire day. Since Sunny has been with my grandfather, he has just let her run free. She never goes very far away. Where he lives, he is the only house on the right side of the road for more than 1 mile each way. Across the street, there are 4 houses that run the course of my grandfather's property. Three of those 4 houses have dogs that also run free most of the time.
Last night, someone hit my dog and did not even bother to stop and make sure she was okay. They just continued on like nothing had happened. She was not hit hard, but since they did not bother to stop, she ended up lying in the road and eventually died. She had very little external injuries, just a couple of spots on her back leg where the skin had been rubbed off, probably from the bumper of the car.
My question is: If you hit a dog, wouldn't you stop to make sure it was okay? I thought that was a no-brainer, but apparently I was wrong. I have been told by some that I am an irresponsible pet owner for letting her run free. With the amount of traffic that goes through there (and honestly the traffic that does come through there) is mostly the people who live in that particular stretch of the road. They are all very careful and drive slowly so that the dogs don't get hit. The person who hit my precious Sunny was not one of the neighbors. The neighbor saw a car coming very fast up the road (this road's speed limit is 25 miles per hour and very clearly posted). He thought he heard a loud thud and then the car sped up and went even faster. He didn't think anything of it. My dog was hit and killed within 50 feet of my grandfather's driveway. When one of the other neighbors got up to go to work, they saw Sunny lying in the middle of the road, and she was dead. They immediately got ahold of my grandfather. I went out and had to bury her. I know it sounds silly, but that dog has gotten me through some of the hardest times in my life. I miss her so much. All I can do is sit here and cry.
Isn't it basic humanity to stop and make sure the animal you hit (especially when it is a dog that is 50 pounds and is medium-sized, a boxer/staffordshire terrier mix) is okay? Is that just expecting too much out of people? Have we really become a society where animals mean nothing? My Sunny definitely meant something to me. She was a part of my family, and now she is gone. All because someone drove too fast and didn't bother to stop when they hit her. I am so angry right now.
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 8:24:24 PM | Isn't there a law in OHIO that requires you to stop for DOGS !!! I do not know I am really asking ??? !!!
BTW Sorry about your dog | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 3 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 8:27:36 PM | | If there isn't, there should be. I can see keeping on going if you hit a skunk or a racoon, but a dog that clearly belongs to someone. She had a bright purple collar on. You could see her from far away, and it was light outside when she got hit. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 8:46:39 PM | that was a sad story, sorry for your pet
one day when I was very young I was rideing in the car with my dad. He ended up hitting a large black dog. I watched my dad gently cary the dog to the side of the road and look for the house to find the owner. I also watched my dad cry. I learned as a young girl to love animals and care for them.
you know even if there were a law for takeing care of animals that we hit there would still be law breakers who lack consideration for actions they have comitted.
Just yesterday someoone hit an elderly perrson along the side of the road and just drove off to leave her on the side of the road to die, It is so very sad that there is a lack of standing up to things we have done. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 8:49:40 PM | | I'm sorry about your dog but as a former pet owner I would have found another place to stay and if I couldn't then I would have stayed with the pet. Would you have let your kid run lose?? Same thing in my book! I would have had a lead set out for the dog...letting a dog roam lose is owner negligence. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 6 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 9:00:23 PM | | xquizitone - I had no other options but to go to my mother's house. She did have a 30 foot lead. She was a boxer/staffordshire terrier. She is a very muscular dog, and she is very, very fast. My 91-year-old grandfather had trouble getting her on the lead. You are right, I would not let my kid run loose. Of course, you would hope that if someone hit a child, they would certainly stop and see if he/she were okay. As for owner negligence, when you have no other choice and the dog made my grandfather very happy too, you do what you think is best. All the neighborhood dogs run free, not just mine. Mine just unfortunately was the one that got hit and died. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 7 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 9:05:39 PM | | mama tiger - thank you. I also have hit a dog before, many years ago. I stopped immediately and I even took it to the vet. Nobody claimed the dog though and I was living in an apartment where I could not have a dog. They got him all fixed up though and eventually did find a great home for him. I paid 25% of the vet bill the day I took the dog in. I got that check back in the mail 2 days later and they wrote off the entire balance of the account. If I had to do it over again, I would do the same thing. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 9:36:15 PM |
Would you have let your kid run lose?? Same thing in my book!
Only someone who doesn't *have* kids would say this. A pet is not your child, nor does having a pet even remotely resemble being a parent. Sorry, pet peeve.
Lkng, sorry for your loss. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 9 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/18/2006 10:00:51 PM | | subsumed: I agree with you. My dog was definitely a very big part of our family and she will be dearly missed. I have children also. I had a miscarriage in between my children. Losing a child is so much more painful than losing my dog. I agree that only someone who did not have children would compare a dog to a child. Thank you. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/19/2006 6:04:57 AM | lkng4mrright, I am sorry for your loss. Not knowing what county or city the dog was in I am not sure about this following statement. But in Columbus and most of the surrounding suburbs, there are leash laws for the protection of the dogs and the people.
I know that in Muskingum county the dogs are not suppose to be running loose. For this very same reason.
If she were that big, chances are there was damage to the car. I would report the incident to the local police in any case. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/19/2006 6:40:05 AM | Silver, that is also true in my locality.
The 'apples and oranges' issue between kids and pets has only one thing in common; responsibility. Sometimes that responsibility is mandated by law and at others by common sense.
I am not aware of any O.R.C. mention of mandatory 'stopping' for hitting a dog while in a moving vehicle. That could cause serious traffic accidents on the interstates. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/19/2006 6:54:06 AM | | I am so sorry for your lost sweetie. And no animals and children cant compare but when we lose a pet it hurts. and im sure you feel guilty enough by having to leave your pet with your grandfather but life takes some ugly turns sometimes and we have to do what we have to do. I dont know if there is a OHIO law that says you have to stop after hitting an animal but i would almost think that it would be a human thing to do but apparently not. i stop if i hit an animal even if its wild. I am careful with the wild ones but if they are still alive i call the sheriffs department to get someone out there that can help. And for me I cry even if its a bird or a squirrel. But sometimes you just cant miss them. But someone who can hit a dog and drive off like its nothing is not even a human and i agress with whoever said that you should still report it to the local police. I hope things get better for you. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 13 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/19/2006 10:38:55 PM | Love2laugh: Thank you for your kind words. I have to say that I am quite surprised by people's reaction to this. I consider it a horrible thing to have happened, and people are telling me that I should have been more responsible. All I can say is that she was a great dog and everyone who ever met her loved her. Where my grandfather lives, he is the only house on the right side of the road and there are 4 houses across the street with very little yard between them. The other 4 houses do not even cover my grandfather's property. Three of those families have lived there for over 30 years. My grandfather called me today and told me that all 4 of them had gone to the spot where she was found and put a little memorial to her there, just like they would for a person who got hit. They took a bunch of pictures of her and their dogs playing together. They blew one of them up and put it right there with the rest of the stuff, right where she died. What I don't think people understand is that I have lost a part of myself. Sunny was loved and I miss her terribly. I grew up in that little town. Everyone knows everyone else.
On the bright side, I buried her on my grandfather's property right between the evergreen trees that she loved to sit and watch him in his garden. You can see it when you pull in the driveway. My grandpa even made a sort of headstone for her out of some wood he had. This dog was special. She was so much more than "just a dog".
I have to say that I was very surprised by the comments that some people have made to me. I had a person actually tell me that they would never swerve to avoid hitting an animal. He then said he wouldn't swerve to avoid hitting a child either. He would try to slow down, but he would not put himself in danger to avoid hitting anything, including a child. I was shocked by this. That, in my opinion, is one person who should definitely not be allowed to drive. He is an over-the-road truck driver. That to me is pretty scary.
I have also had comments made as to why I would let a 93 year old man take care of my dog. My grandfather is not a typical 93 year old. My grandmother has been gone for almost 10 years now. He is a lonely man. He lives all by himself. He loved having Sunny there. He loved taking her outside with him and watching her run around but not go too far away when he was in his garden. He has a garden that runs quite a bit of his property length. He grows corn, squash, green beans, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, blackberries, and red raspberries. He takes care of this garden all by himself. He is not an old, decrepit man that should never had had to take the responsibility on of a dog. He loved having her there. He misses her too. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 4:10:46 PM | lkng..........i'm sorry to hear about sunny. it's cold hearted by what some people can do. i myself would have stopped to check the dog, then started knocking on doors to see if anyone owned him. but that's just me. i remember when i lived in philly, my horse, sunni was also hit by a car but the lady stopped. she stayed there along with a crowd of people until i got there where my horse died in my arms. i didn't have him out at the time, he was rented out to someone. anyway, the lady paid my uncle $5,000 for my horse since he was the one that bought him for his daughter then gave him to me. why don't you put flyers around in the stores hoping that maybe someone would come forth or any information leading to the accident with sunny. an honest person would do just that or a friend might even contact you.
also, where your grandpa is concerned........a dog is man's best friend and with your grandpa being up in age, sunny was the best person to help him out. he would have been able to let others know if there was ever any danger while grandpa was out tending his gardening. what some people don't tend to realize is cats and dogs make the best companions for the elderly.
i'm also sorry to hear about your b/f and what he did to you.....mine did the same thing to me as well last year. but hey, i have my own home, now i don't have to worry about him throwing me out of it. it's also ashamed that you can't have any pets, i'm trying to find a home for my female pitt. only problem is she's not animal friendly and she needs room to run. i just can't keep her here in the trailer with me, i live in a park and i have no place to let her run. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 15 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 6:32:07 PM | ponygrl: Thank you for the kind words. I will take your advice and put up some flyers. It is a very small town where my grandfather lives. I guess people just don't understand and don't bother to listen when they do tests that determine that people who have pets live much longer than people who do not have pets. I sure hope you can find a place for your dog.
diana | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 7:56:32 PM | | i hope so too. she was given to me last year as a temporary living arraingment, taken from an abused home. i grew to love her so much. i had an add running in petfinders and got a slew of emails from people from out of the country. i'm sorry, my dog is not going to be used as a mule then slaughtered to get drugs out of her. i'd much rather put her down myself before that would ever happen. i was offered as much as $550.00 for a 5 yr old female pitt. but like i said, people from out of the country tends to bring bad news where smuggling drugs are concerned. they can't use people anymore so now they're using animals. that make me sooooooo | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 17 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 8:10:52 PM | | I agree ponygrl. That infuriates me that people would use animals for such a thing. It just goes to show you that people have no compassion and sometimes no common sense. I guess there are 2 types of people in this world, animal lovers and animal haters. I am an animal lover and I am proud of that. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 8:20:30 PM | | I am outraged by the truck driver who told you that he wouldnt swerve to miss a child let alone a dog. I hope if he is on this site you have warned other women about this selfish b***ard. How horrible can we be. He is a danger to society. As for losing your dog i understand that completely we had to put our rodegian ridgeback who was 18 yrs old down a couple years ago i cried for weeks he was my baby. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 19 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 8:41:02 PM | | love2laugh: All I can say is that I am glad he is from Arkansas and not from Ohio. | |
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tokr
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Joined: 9/2/2006
Msg: 20 | |
| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/20/2006 8:53:04 PM | You know, I just can't figure people out. Every time that I think people are decent and caring, someone proves me wrong. This was actually written to me by someone in Pennsylvania regarding the loss of my Sunny.
"It is the fault of the dog owner and not the persons who was driving the car because DOGS DO NOT BELONG ON THE ROAD !!! Why cann't you understand that ?"
I am sorry, but how dare she tell me that the person that was driving the car was NOT at fault. If the person driving the car did not hit my dog, she would still be here, now wouldn't she? Yes, dogs do not belong on the road. Most of the time, the dogs played together in the trees at my grandfather's house. Very rarely did you see any of the dogs in the road other than to just cross the road to go see the other dogs. I just cannot comprehend this person saying the person who hit her is not at fault.
Her last saying to me was that that was all she was going to say on the subject as she was tired of banging her head against a brick wall. I told her maybe she needs to bang her head a bit harder on that brick wall and maybe it will knock some sense and some compassion into her. People are unbelievable. It just infuriates me.
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/22/2006 10:22:47 AM | Hi, I'm Sweetie 425. I'm the lady that told lkning 4 I wasn't going to keep banging my head against a brick wall. I would like to say that because I refuse to bash the driver of the car that hits a dog without hearing his or her side of the story dosen't make me a bad person and it dosen't mean I don't love animals. I would have had great compassion for lkngfor if she would have said my dog got hit by a car and I am heart broken but I'm not going to join anyone in bashing the driver of the car, I don't know his or her side of the story.
As it often does on the threads of a forum, the subject changed from the subject of the driver not stopping to the subject of dogs running free. lkgfor gave her reasons for her dog running free, to some on the forum, me included, they weren't valid reasons for a dog to be running free. She got angry and rude when everyone who didn't agree with her and insisted there was nothing wrong with her dog running free. In a different thread she said her grandfather was not strong enough to handle the dog, and that she new the dog would be running free at times, yet knowing that she entrusted him with her pets care. That drew some critisizim and she got angry about it and accussed people of being heartless.
She asked how it could not be a drivers fault for hitting a dog and I said because dogs shouldn't be on the road. To me it when someone hits a dog it's an accident, I don't thnk most drivers purposely try to hit a dog or anyother animal on the road, and like I said it would be nice if the driver stops, but I cann't bash his behaviour because I don't know his side of the story. When the topic changed to dogs running free Lkingfor could not understand how if a dog is on a leash instead of running free it would not be hit by a car. And since she couldn't understand that I told her I wasn't going to keep banging my head agaisnt a brick wall tying to convince her of that. I wasn't going to keep debating that point with her, but that I hoped in the future she would keep her dog on a leash. Now she has started this thread to bash the people on the other thread that would not say the driver who hit her dog and didn't stop was a bad person and the people who said her dog should not have been running free are heartless. I understand she is hurt and angry because she lost her dog, but the forums are for open discussion, subjects on a thread change from what the opening post was, no one was trying to be mean to her, we were discussing the reasons a dog shouldn't be outdoors running free. Just wanted to give my side of the story. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/22/2006 12:53:09 PM | Sweetie.....thanks for the explanation.
I'm just wondering - compassion for anyone's loss aside - what a dog being hit by a car has to do with dating online?
I know this is a 'free' site but doesn't this thread test the most liberal interpretation of what an online dating site is?
Dogs? The AKA site can be found through a google click. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/22/2006 5:55:50 PM | | DS tho i agree that this is a dating site you know that we cover all topics here. You have also taken part in those topics so if we go off the subject of dating you too are guilty. It doesnt matter does it if someone has a problem that they come to where they will get the help and comfort that they seek. This site also gives us the choice of looking for friends isnt that what friends do? were you not a friend to me the other day when my husband was so ill? we werent discussing dating when we were talking!!! When i came on this site i was looking for dating i was seperated and found this place in hopes of finding what i was searching for What i was searching for i already had and didnt realize it so in your estimation should i leave a site where i have found friends both male and female? I wouldnt ask you to leave if you found someone to be with. And the reason I wouldnt is I consider you a friend. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/22/2006 6:55:57 PM | It was just a question for a thread subject; a dead dog?
I don't think I have ever suggested or ask anyone to leave this site. What I have questioned is off-site topics - a dead dog - being relevent to anything about dating.
What I exchanged to personally was off the boards and via phone. I didn't start a thread about it and neither did you.
I do think, Love2, all of us can have compassion and understanding for all that which we face in life. I think you would agree that a church service is not the place for a business discussion. True it sometimes happens but for it to occur without anyone challenging allows it to become acceptable.
I challenged a thread about a dead dog on a web dating site. I also leave my business cards at home when I go to church.
There may be people here who have some serious grief, anger, substance abuse issues needing attention from those qualified to assist in resolving those problems. A site designed for dating is probably not the place for those issues to be discussed or even shared.
Ok, let's test the integrity of the forum in terms of what can be posted as a thread and what should be posted.....then, you decide what is off topic for a dating site.
Fair?
A dead dog thread is the benchmark. If that's accepted and allowed then so should be what will follow in the next few days. | |
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| Hit and Run
Posted: 11/22/2006 7:13:51 PM | OK DS i GIVE lets not be starting about of threads just to prove your point. And i do agree that business shouldnt be talked at church and no people who have addiction issues should not be bringing it into here there are places to go for that help people who dont have those issues tho compassionately would offer advice and never understand the addiction and yes to a point i agree that maybe discussing a hit and run isnt the topic that we need to be discussing here BUT if we dont want to discuss it we have the option of either voting to delete OR not participating in it.
But if you want to only discuss dating issues from now on that is the only thing i will discuss with you its up to the rest of the people on this site if they want to veer off dating issues to have a conversation with you.
I hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving. | |
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