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disturbing, but I feel like I have to talk about it. I was walking my dog, Dallas, down a fairly major street (four lanes plus a turning lane) during rush hour when I saw a pitbull running toward us. At first I thought it was a stray because I didn't notice a collar and it looked like it had some marks on its skin. Dallas can be aggressive with other dogs, so I quickly tightened my grip on the leash to keep him close to me because I thought this pitbull was going to fight him. The pitbull came close, but did not attack or anything, it seemed like he was just interested in playing with Dallas. At this point, I thought it might have been involved in dog-fighting because I saw some scars on its face. I looked around and saw a guy standing on a porch across the street, and I think he called to the dog.
The pitbull lost interest in Dallas and turned to run back to his owner. It didn't see any cars, it just ran right out in the near lanes of traffic where it narrowly missed being hit. There were a lot of cars on the road and they were going very fast. The dog continued across the street at full speed, oblivious to any danger. As it neared the other side, I watched in horror as a full-size pickup approached. The dog went between the truck's front tires and was run over by the right rear wheel. It instantly yelped but was moving. The pickup did not stop.
For me, that wasn't the worst part. The dog's owner was standing maybe ten or fifteen feet away at the time. He saw his dog get run over right in front of him. The guy let out a scream/cry that was indescribable. It sounded like what I imagine the woman in the famous photo from Kent State sounded like in that terrible moment. He scooped the dog up in his arms and ran onto the porch of his house. He looked to be giving the dog mouth-to-mouth, even though the dog appeared to be conscious to me. The guy's roommate came outside and within 60 seconds of the accident, they had the dog in their car.
I stood there in shock. I experienced so many feelings: the dread of seeing the dog run through traffic, shock and disbelief as it went under the truck and cried out, and pain as my heart broke for the owner. I stood watching as traffic continued to fly by and I looked to see how much blood was on the street. Surprisingly, there was none that I could see, but based on what I had just seen I was sure the dog was seriously fucked up.
Another twist immediately followed the incident. I walked Dallas maybe 40 feet further to the corner, still eyeing the opposite side of the street where the dog was hit. Across the street, the next-door neighbors of the injured dog came out onto their porch (I guess they heard the commotion). Unbelievably, I watched as the neighbors' dog came trotting across the busy street to visit Dallas! I couldn't believe that I was going to see two dogs run over in the span of two minutes! When it got to my side, I quickly tried to get the dog close enough to grab it but again I saw no collar; It didn't get close enough and turned to cross back to the other side. It was unbearable as I waited for it to meet the same fate as the pitbull. Cars buzzed by it, not even slowing. Finally, one car slowed and one the the girls ran into the street to grab the dog before it was hit. When they got back to the other side, I yelled at them that their neighbor's dog had just been run over and they seemed to understand that they had just dodged a bullet. It was inconceivable to me that on a street like that, people would allow their dogs to get anywhere near an open door without a leash.
On the way home, I was distraught. Dallas means everything to me, and I had just witnessed my worst nightmare. We made it home but I wanted to know if the pitbull would live. I guessed that the dog was taken to the veterinary school, so I waited about an hour before driving over there. Sure enough, the dog's owner was there in the waiting room. I think it was lucky that the vet was only about a mile from the scene. I asked if he was the guy with the pitbull and if it was going to make it. He said the dog was getting x-rayed and he didn't know anything else, but at least if it was being x-rayed it was alive. I told him who I was and that if he wanted to tell the police that the pickup had fled the scene I could describe it. He said he wasn't going to talk to the police, I assume because he knew that it was his own fault for allowing the dog to get into the street. I told him not to blame himself too much and he thanked me for coming down.
It was absolutely horrifying and infuriating. It's a college town and all these people looked to be students. I live on a quiet street but when I open my front door, I make sure that Dallas doesn't get out because he'll run right out into the street too (I'm assuming this is how the dogs got loose). These dogs lived on a busy street and it was rush hour, but their owners were totally oblivious and negligent. I don't care how well they are trained, if you live on a street like that, when outside your dog must be on a leash at all times! I'm hopeful that the pitbull will live, but who knows. It just seems like it should have been easily avoided, and the fact that I had to watch two dogs in rush hour traffic just wrecked my emotions. Thanks for listening.
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