Dogsey

Youngstevie, there are a couple of comments - or opinions (as you say) on this subject posted by members that are clearly stating its the owners - or at the very least insinuating that it was the owners fault.

I am all for freedom of speech - but putting "opinions" forward when they are not helpful is a tad insensitive and not very supportive of a fellow dog owner/lover - who could possibly even be a member on this forum and who may be turning to this forum for support.

Perhaps not the owner's fault, but their responsiblity - much moreso than the driver.
A terrible accident, and the driver should have reported it, but as someone else pointed out, the owners should perhaps consider it a blessing that they've not lost their dog AND ended up with a car repair bill too. I'm sure they're just very raw and lashing out though, it must be heartbreaking to watch your dog die in those circumstances.

ClaireandDaisy - the owners can rightfully blame the driver for not stopping after hitting their dog. As others have pointed out - its a legal obligation to do so.

It was indeed a sad and tragic accident and I truly feel for the owners. I also understand that there is a legal obligation to report an accident of this kind to the police, but I don't think there's a legal obligation to assist the dog medically or transport it to a vet. From my understanding of the report the owners are not only upset that the incident was not reported, but that medical assistance was not sought for their pet by the driver. The first is a legal obligation, the second one a moral obligation, as we all know morals differ greatly in society, not all people hold the same love, understanding and respect for animals. I'm sure everyone on Dogsey would have taken a different course of action than the driver in this case and had it been our dog, we would have felt anger at the driver for not helping our beloved pet. But, it takes a medly of characters to make our world what it is, they were just unfortunate enough to encounter one that had little compassion.

This reminds me of one terrible morning, in rush hour, all the traffic had come to a standstill on a very busy b-road, and I could see the commotion was just up ahead with something in the middle of the road. I got out the car, and to my horror saw a gsd lying there on its side with two great big strapping blokes standing there staring at it in front of a big lorry which I assumed had hit it. The lorry driver looked at me and said "it wasn't me" and he had tears streaming down his face

Luckily, there was a kennel at the side of this country road, and the girl had come running out, so I said to her, put it in my car I'll take it to the vet, so she lifted it up, whilst I ran to open the back of my car, and as I got to my car (with my own dog in it), a policeman came skidding up beside me in the middle of the road. He then saw this poor dog being carried by this woman with blood pouring out of its mouth, and I told him that was the reason for this long hold up, so he kindly said, put him in the back of mine So I took some big towels out of my car, laid them on the back seat of his car and we laid the dog in there and he rushed it to the vet.

Then the owner came running down to the road from across the fields, this was her beloved dog, who had NEVER left her side before now (just like my own gsd).....until it had seen a deer, it took off, the rest is history.

This story has a happy ending though, the dog survived, and I got to see how well it was doing, but then that was down to some quick thinking, compassionate peops to hand on the scene, unlike this sad story

the owner says:
I want the person who did this to be disgusted by what they've done. They have killed my dog.
No - it was an accident.
So blaming the driver is pointless.
Yes, the driver should have stopped. But he didn`t kill their dog.
Unfortunately refusing to look at the causes of accidents means they are likely to happen again.
I would rather the owners had said they would make sure such an incident didn`t happen again.

I can see what people are saying re it was not the driver's fault but I hope in those circumstances I would have stopped but you never know how someone is going to react and the dog's owner may have "had a go" at the driver of the car had he/she stopped.

This happened to a friend of mine at work; as she was driving along in the country she hit a dog that was on the road as the owners had the gate open. They were in their front garden playing with their children. She stopped and they then were verbally aggressive to her about her hitting their dog! The fact that is was not a good idea to let their dog out on to the road seemed to have escaped their attention. Personal responsibility seems to be sadly lacking nowadays-there is always someone you can blame instead!

It is simple to say but not so simple to do.

What people often forget is that such an event is as extremely shocking and frightening to the driver as it is to the owner.

Just like dogs, people bolt when frightened.

It may be that the driver will come forward a little later on, however, as previously said, if they do, whilst is it possible that the driver could face legal action (criminal) they could sue the owner's for any third party damage caused to their car etc.

It is very sad that this dog died, and very sad for the owners, leaving "blame" and "fault" aside, the CAUSE of the accident and resultant death lies not with the driver.

I agreew ith C&D and SB. I think the family who owned the dog havfe another dog at home? With any luck they will realise that there is as training issue here and will ensure a fantastic recall for their remaining pet.

Although a tragic accident, blame doesn't lie with the driver. had the dog been properly trained, this possibly wouldn't have happened.

Having saiod that, with so many "what ifs" and "maybes" nobody can be sure.

We can only do our best for our dogs and I can't help but feel that this family didn't do that with their dogs. So when something happens which highlights a lack of responsibility on their part (NOT talking about blame here at all) they lash out at the only other person involved - the driver.

A very sad tale.who knows why the dogs bolted but in law the driver is at fault as he/she did not stop or report it to the police.