If you hit an animal...

[Marseeya]

Would you stop to try to find its owner if there didn't seem to be one nearby? What if there were a bunch of people outside who witnessed the accident?

I'm just curious. I've had two dogs that had been hit and the drivers never stopped and I've heard a lot of people being upset because the driver didn't stop, so I thought about it and wondered what I would do if I were ever in that situation (crossing my fingers that it never happens! I hit a groundhog once and was devastated!)

A few scenarios I thought of -- if I hit one and there were houses nearby, I'd try to find the owner and would definitely claim responsibility. If it was on the highway or in the country with no nearby houses, I don't think I would unless I came upon a house. If people witnessed it, I'd try to make amends unless they yelled at me or threatened me, in which case I would go to the local police and give them my contact information to see if they would handle it. You know, people are crazy these days, so I don't know if I'd really want to be in a confrontation like that alone.

Sound silly? These are the things I wonder about sometimes. What would you do?

 

[Serena]

I hit a dog last year. I stopped, it was a pitbull. A neighbor came out and she didn't recognize it and made me stay away. I was trying to see if it had tags on it. I wanted to put it in my car to get it help, but it died. It had no tags. I called animal control. I don't think I stopped crying for a while.

 

[Marseeya]

I hit a dog last year. I stopped, it was a pitbull. A neighbor came out and she didn't recognize it and made me stay away. I was trying to see if it had tags on it. I wanted to put it in my car to get it help, but it died. It had no tags. I called animal control. I don't think I stopped crying for a while.

How sad. I'd feel the same way if I ever hit one. I didn't think of calling animal control if it ever happened.

Every once in a while we get several strays running through our neighborhood and I worry about them. Plus, two of our neighbors just let their little yippy dogs run loose and they're so stupid, they just don't move when they're in the road! At least we all know they do it, so we drive at a snail's pace on our street, but we get a lot more traffic than that. I feel bad for those dogs, but I'll also feel bad for whatever poor person hits them if it happens, since the owners would have every bit (no, more) responsibility if anything happens to them.

 

[Cyndirella]

I think it would depend on the situation, like you said. If I was in an area where there were houses nearby, I would probably try to find the owner. Not sure what I would do if there were no houses nearby. I would be concerned for the animal if it were still alive, but at the same time a little hesitant to try to help it because they are so much more likely to bite while they're in pain.

When I first got my license, a dog ran out right in front of my car in a not-so-good part of town. I stopped, and the owners (and I think their entire extended family) were in the front yard. They started coming towards my car and yelling at me, so I took off. I felt so bad about hitting the dog, but they scared the heck out of me!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I would definitely stop regardless if an animal was in the road. Recently DH and I were driving and came upon a cat who had just been hit. Nobody stopped. It was still alive so we pulled it off to the side of the road and went house to house until we found the owner (had there been any chance the cat could have been helped we would have taken him to the vet, but it was clear he was going to die). Luckily, we found the owner and she got to say goodbye to the cat while he was still alive. She was grateful. I couldn't leave any animal hurt in the road.

 

[dixipixi]

Since I've been driving I've only hit 2 animals (one was a possum) and the other was a cat. The cat was in front of MIL's neighbor's house, so I stopped. I was hysterical. I'm a real animal lover and I couldn't stand that I had killed that cat. They acted like it was no big deal (I think the cat was basically a stray that just "hung around" their place...they fed him but he really wasn't a pet). I still felt terrible and cried for a long time about it.
BTW, I cried over the possum too. That was just as bad...but it wasn't anyone's pet...so there was no need to stop.

I have also had several pets (over my lifetime) get hit by other drivers. I know that sometimes they just dart out and accidents are unavoidable, but we live on a small (barely two lane) country road with lots of hills and sharp curves and people drive way too fast on it.

I was in my neighbor's (across the road from my house) front yard last year and a group of teens were speeding along. My cat was in the ditch (it is barely a ditch...very shallow). They actually swerved to hit her and sped off laughing and blowing the horn. The sad thing was she had 5 baby kittens (barely 5 days old). I raised them all on a bottle and they have been my heart. 2 of them have since passed (viral infections), but I still have 3 other babies.

Cyndirella...I LOVE your dachshund!!! We have a black and tan (named Tinkerbell). She is 4 mos. old and knows that she rules the roost around here!!!

 

[Cyndirella]

Cyndirella...I LOVE your dachshund!!! We have a black and tan (named Tinkerbell). She is 4 mos. old and knows that she rules the roost around here!!!

Thank you! Her name is Bailey, she is my little sweetie and is SO spoiled! I would love to have another one (a black & tan) but I'm not sure how well she would do with another dog in her house!

 

[dixipixi]

We brought our little Tinkerbell into a house where we already had a dog. Shorty is a small Corgi-mix ("mutt") that we adopted. He is a very calm, loving, sweet dog, so he "took to her" quite well. Tinkerbell was only 6 wks old when we got her so she's always known life around here with other dogs (I also have a Basset Hound...but he's an "outside" dog).

We had another dachshund, Peppi, for 12 years. She passed away in July. We miss her terribly. She was my son's pet (he's 12...so he had her his entire life). After she passed, I wasn't sure if we should get another one, but DS insisted. It seemed to help him through the grieving process, so I'm glad we did it. I still can't think about Peppi without "tearing up". There is just something about dachshunds. They are so sweet and smart that they can't help but become part of your family.

 

[4greatboys]

Yes I stop. I have even stopped when someone else hit the animal--they did stop as well.
I hit a cat once on a rainy night. He ran right in front of my car and it was raining so I couldnt slam on my brakes. Ack. I felt so bad, he was hurt very badly. Someone came out of the house to see what was going on, it wasnt there cat but they gave me one of the carboard animal carriers and I took the cat to the nearest Animal Hosp. They were still open but the cat died before I got there. I felt so bad, cried for a long time.

 

[Sleepy]

Many years ago, while we were not home, my dog got out of the fence and was hit by a car. We got home later that evening and immediately noticed our dog was nowhere to be found. Once inside, we get a message on the machine from a neighbor who said our dog had been hit and was in our garage Next message was the person who hit our dog. He said he needed for us to call him. We did. he immediately told my husband that our dog ran out into the street and he hit our car and left EXTENSIVE damage to his vehicle. He never asked if our dog was even alive. He never asked if the extensive damage to my dog was going to leave him crippled or if it left him with internal damage. All he was concerned about was the extensive damage to his vehicle from hitting a dog. Speed limit in my neighborhood was 25mph. Don't see how an SUV can receive that much damage from a small dog. He wanted to place a claim on my homeowners insurance. he would not allow us to come look at the damage to his vehicle. Anyway, our dog was ok...bruised, but eventually recovered. I called our insuracne agent and he told me to ignore the man, that he was probably looking for a scam and if the insurance company sends any info, for me to fill it out with the following.......Was not aware of such incident........and leave it at that. Well, sure enough, I got paperwork from insurance co and I did as instructed and nothing ever came of it. The man never contacted us again. Still upsets me to think he just left my dog in the garage and had the nerve to call my house demanding repair to his car without even asking if my dog was ok.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Nice guy, sleepy. Glad your dog was ok.

When I was growing up, one of the neighborhood teenagers deliberately swerved and hit our dog who was laying up on the sidewalk. It was witnessed by other neighbors. It was a good thing the boy wouldn't come out of his house, I never saw my father so mad. The dog never walked on his rear leg again, but luckily he was ok other than that. I don't know why, but I don't think my family called the police or anything.

I wonder what became of that boy - maybe he was the one looking for money from you.