Well, this morning on the way to work I had an unpleasant incident.
I turned off my street onto the next residential street and proceeded on driving. Suddenly, I felt I ran over something, but I discounted it as being a piece of debris (I live in a construction zone). I did not think much off it, continued on and turned again onto the next street. As I was turning I could see some construction workers running past me and people screaming way behind me. I stopped and looked back to see a poor little pooch lying in the middle of the street in obvious agony and a lady running across the street.
I thought about going back, but I did not.
Here is the reason why:
Sunday morning, I took my dog out to the near by park. I almost never take my dog off the leash, but for some reason I did that morning. I did not notice a lady walking her dog on leash near by. My dog ran right to her and caused a bit of commotion. He jumped on her and kept running around her. I quickly grabbed my dog, and before I had a chance to apologize, the lady barked at be "are you going to pick up his poop". I firmly said yes, took my dog and walked away to pick up his business.

I am pretty sure this is the same dog that I ran over this morning. Same car was pulled over and the dog looked the same.
When I was sitting in the car contemplating whether I should go back all those thoughts were going through my mind. I was afraid she would freak out on me and accuse me of purposely killing her dog.

Anyway, I feel horrible, and I don't know if I should do anything. I don't know where the lady lives, but obviously she lives near by. I feel like sending her flowers and a card.


.......

...first off you should of went back...not sure if she can sue you for damage to the dog hit and run..if she new it was you..but with this on here she can....

You should have went back man. Sorry to say, but man up and face the music, you hit someone's dog, and if it were you in that position, you'd be PISSED.

If any of those construction people got your tags, hope a police officer doesn't show up at your door.

First, I am pretty sure you are not criminally responsible for running over an animal.
Second, the dog was off leash, and that's the reason this happened. I did not even see it, as it must have ran right under the car from the side. I am not responsible for what happened, period.
Third, what good is me going back there. All it would have resulted in was an altercation. I would have changed absolutely nothing and possibly caused a fight.
Considering that the day before I had an unpleasant incident with the same lady, I thought it would be best off to leave it alone.

If it was your dog, you would have probably hopped in your car and chased the SOB who hit it. Even though it may or may not have done any good, it's not the point. The point is, you saw it was a dog, someone's precious love yada yada, you should have stopped! It was the morally correct thing to do. You never know, you may see that woman in the next few days, and it will result in a bigger altercation for you not stopping.

If you didn't do it intentionally and the dog was off the leash its not your problem IMO. I have 3 dogs, and they NEVER go off the leash for this reason. If you love your dog.. It's on a leash. It is unfortunate but sh!t happens.

It could have been a raccoon or another animal that you could easily hit on the road. I have ran over a few raccoons, and I never stop and go back to see if they are ok. They seem to make that stupid fateful decision to run in front of your car at the last moment. I still remember the smell of burning raccoon meat on my exhaust, which lingered for a few days.
You should probably go back later on and tell the lady you thought it may have been some wild raccoon, or piece of debris, but realized it may have been her dog. As you had work in the morning, it was not a priority at that moment as you thought nothing of it....
You should not be held liable as it was not your fault, and the dog was not on a leash.

But Reza, he clearly saw that it was a dog, and people were yelling and waving him down, I would have stopped.

Yup, should have, would have, could have....
There nothing he can do now to change the past, but he can go back later and apologize for sure.

Yea but Ryan the woman didnt have a leash on it. At that point the dog became a wild animal, as technically with no leash there is no control over the animal so what the hell is Jakub supposed to do when the thing jumps infront of his wheel. Dont feel bad Jakub, its not your fault... it's the owners.

Yup, Matt's right there! It is the owners fault.

On the flipside... if I saw a whole bunch of people screaming and yelling at me... Yeah, I'da GTF out of dodge in a hurry too.

Still, I maintain my position.

Sweet 10 points!

I could clearly see an altercation happen if he stopped. If it were me and the dog damaged my car I would make her pay for my damages for being negligent. I would feel terrible as well but it's the owners fault for not controlling the dog.
On a similar note. I get pissed when I see parents jay walking with small children. It doesn't take much for an accident to happen and look at what risks they take only to save a few feet of walking >:(

If I saw people screaming and waving at me in the same situation, I can't say I would stop either. Some people are crazy about there pets and there is no telling what may have happened if you got out of your car. I would much rather give then some time to cool down and approach her later without the mob waiting for you.

I know common sense would dictate to these people that it was just an accident, but as I find out more and more, common sense just isn't that common.

No one was waving me down.
This is how it went down:
I felt I drove over something, did not think anything of it.
As I was turning left down the street, I saw some guys run past me and that's why I stopped. I looked over and I saw some lady running towards something in the middle of the street, screaming.
I looked closely and that's when I saw the same car that the lady from Sunday morning incident walked up to.
That's when I realized that this is probably her dog in the middle of the street and that's way those guys were running towards her.
I sat there and though about what might happen if I go back. Seeing that there were some trades guys there, I really did not want to get into a fight in case the lady lost it and somehow insinuated that I killed her dog to get back at her for the day before incident.

What a tough tough situation.

For the record, I'm the guy who does go back, for anything I've hit, period. That being said, that at 750,000k I've put on my various cars, I've never hit anything larger than a bird.

However I'd agree and say I don't believe your liable for anything.

You don't even know for sure if you did hit anything, what it was, and who it belonged to. You could have driven over a dog after someone else hit it, or a million other possibilities. The woman obviously had enough help, and turning around making a mess of traffic to throw your 2c in, wouldn't wind up helpful under the best of circumstances.

Unfortunately, after the previous altercation there's a damned good chance she'd have hauled you into court for no other reason because she's angry. And if any of the guys heading out there happened to be a pet owner and has less than a level head, it certainly could have wound up ugly.

I doubt anyone's going to publically admit they'd not go back at this point (myself included) but I sure can't say with absolute certainty what exactly I'd have done.

It was a split second decision your obviously re-living a thousand times over, and wracked up enough to post on a public forum. Arm-chair quarterbacking at this point isn't going to help, but you've got my sympathy.

Paul

How's the DSM?

Wow, that's not cool at all. What are you, 10 years old?

It's just as well you didn't go back bud. You've already beat yourself up over this enough as it is. Neither you or the dog owner would need any more gas tossed on this fire.

Just pretend it was a cat! Seriously though its a really tough situation. IMO I would have gone back but thats just who I am. sh!t like this happens everyday you shouldnt be to hard on yourself.

YOu're right to not have stopped. I'd have driven off too. I have a dog, and would not like to see what I'd do to someone if they ran it over, then came over to say something to me.
If I were you, I never say a thing to her about it.

Time to take your dog for a walk in another part of town and paint your car a totally different color.

No leash, her fault, end of story.

Now if there was damage to your car, at this point you'd be SOL because you didn't stick around, but no damage done, oh well, sh!t happens. The only reason I would've gone back is if I suspected damage to my car.

You don't need some crazy emotional lady screaming at you for something that was her fault, screw that. I've seen what going back to apologize gets you and it isn't pretty. I'm a 'trades' guy and I wouldn't have made a scene, that's for sure.

She'll keep the next dog on a leash.

Did you just incriminate yourself and admitted to a hit and run?

Defiantly not a hit and run.. Technically.. cant you get a ticket for stopping for anything less then a deer? (swans or w/e animals may be an acception if they are endangered, or.. special?)

I hit a dog on my bicycle not intentionally.. but I didn't feel bad.. it ran infront of me when I was cooking along...

Either way, obviously very unfortunate..

Live and learn..

I don't think there's laws on the books for any sort of animal, unless your car is damaged.

Morally, you did the wrong thing, Jakub. You should have gone back, apologized, and explained your sorrow at something you were powerless to prevent. She would have accepted your apology and told you she was sorry for the guilt you now feel at hurting her dog...

Yeah, right. Morally counts for CRAP these days.

You did the RIGHT thing, Jakub. Feeling bad for hitting the dog is fine. I ran over a friend's kitten once (HEAVY fog, running speed, and only caught a glimpse of something I thought was a squirrel, not even a thump) and felt bad for it. My friend called me every name in the book and quickly became my ex-friend. Even if there wasn't an altercation, she DEFINITELY would have been in hysterics, and probably would have gotten your information. You'd be looking at a small claims court case at best and, even though people here are right with the "Nothing you can do, wasn't your fault," argument, would probably get a bleeding heart judge who'd agree that you owe her at least $500 to help replace the dog. My 'ex-friend' told me they'd definitely have been after me for the costs of the cat, if they could have proven it was me.

Sucks, but that's the World we live in.

I've hit many things, mostly birds. I've hit racoons, ducks, rabbits etc. I have never hit anyones pet, but almost hit a German Shepard at 100km/hr, which I did not want to do. Swerved because I had the room and avoided it.

Almost hit my neighbours dog that roams the streets all the time. I yelled at the dog, told it to get in my car. Then I drove it home, you should have seen how guilty the dog looked after I yelled at it. Haven't seen it wandering around too much anymore.

I felt really bad after I came over a hill and there was about 30 baby ducks crossing the road, I couldn't stop, ran over about half of them. It wasn't a nice scene. But I didn't go back, what was I going to do if I went back?

People should have their pets on a leash or keep them indoors and never let them outside if they don't want to risk it. I don't agree with keeping pets cooped up inside all the time. You take the risk when you let your pet roam, but the pets are much happier if they can get out and enjoy themselves. If you are by a busy road or subdivision your pet should always be on a leash.

I wouldn't have gone back, even though I would feel really bad. The outcome would not change, maybe the dog survived?

The dog wasn't on a leash, plus you didn't see it your not at fault its probably as much the owners fault as it is yours. Also unless its a police dog I don't think anything could happen to you

I agree with Troy and Adam.

There is too many careless pet owners, and accordingly similar events. So you are not alone on this Jakub.

I had a friend that run over a cat without knowning and stopped, looked back to look at it, half alive and meowing...and was spooked for weeks. I slowdown and swerve whenever possible, but if i have to choose between causing a road accident vs animal road kill, i'll keep going.

On my way home from the track on the 6th of June, I snapped my T-belt at 5K rpms, and my car was towed home. On Redernsville road we came over a hill (truck following me) and a family of racoons was crossing the road. I swerved as best I could and clipped one, the flat bed smoked 3 of them. Glad he didn't swerve much with my car on the back. But what can you do?

Slow down in area's populated with wildlife, especially at night.

Paul

So...slow down on back roads, side streets, provincial highways, downtown (squirrels), and sometimes on the freeway. Gotcha.

Do not purposely hit large birds or wild turkeys they frack up your rad. I was with my cousin and we came around the bend where there was a corn field adjacent, there was about 500 wild turkeys everywhere, looked like a transport came through and hit half of them already it was a freakin blood bath.

Aim for racoons, avoid skunks, speed up for cats.

All jokes aside, I don't slow down for anything unless its my neigbours dog or something and I can stop. All the rest is just fur under the tires.

Spoken like a true city-boy, Paul. You live in K-W, or downtown Toronto?

New Brunswick is so bad, almost everyone has the little whistles on their cars to let the wildlife (moose, in particular) know you're coming...

I've ignored it twice, fine, third times the charm. Someone better open up a new thread on city<country driving habits so we can all be enlightened..

Lived in Wiarton for years. You know, the "big city", all 2,000 of us.

Edit: Nevermind, totally not worth it. Keep score, your obviously doing far better.

Paul

I guess now is a bad time to quip that I always slow down on King St between Cedar and Pandora at night.


It's a real hassle cleaning the hookers out of the grill.

The worst part is, the lack of clothing they wear doesn't help to soak up the blood.

Don't go too slowly, you'll get picked up as a john

Paul

Depending what the animal is, whether it's dead or suffering a lot of paint, and what tools you happen to have you may feel sorry for it and finish it off.

Of course that's completely out of the question in this situation.....

Would you really have the guts to club an injured animal to death?
I have a hard time dealing with animals/people in distress as it is. Beating on a mangled carcass isn't my thing.

I've never done that. I've never had a situation where i would even need to look back. Just said it was a possibility.

Lets say you're up north, hit a deer, and it's suffering. You've got a shotgun in the truck. I think many or most people would do the job.

Poor little cat in the street meowing in pain and all you've got is a tire iron.. That would be hard for almost anyone.

Somewhere in between most people would find their line of what they could or could not do. Luckily most people will never find out where that line is.

Where's my line? I don't know. Tire iron and a kitty? probably not. I'd prefer to not find out.