Last Sunday afternoon (29th January) my daughter was at Watson Shops. Her little white whippet-cross broke free while my daughter was inside the supermarket and ran out onto the road where she was struck by a car. The driver didn’t stop (boo!).
A witness from the adjacent flats told us he saw the incident. DeeDee subsequently ran off somewhere and went to ground, as hurt dogs often do. A sizeable search party was amassed and we spent several hours combing the streets of Watson, but to no avail.
Have you seen her? She was wearing a brown leather collar and has a few marks on her forehead from a persistent skin complaint – she’s a homely little creature but well-loved. She is micro-chipped (but doesn’t have tags). If you have any information, please let us know by posting below, or by calling 6241 7149.
Thanks riotacters.
PS. DeeDee was in no way involved in the fracas near the tent embassy last Thursday. She is not a dodgy builder and she doesn’t own a Holden Calais nor live in Charnwood.
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Gobbo said :
This section wasn’t intended to apply to road kill, and I would love to know if anybody has suffered the extreme misfortune of coming across a public prosecutor malicious enough to have used it against them in this way?
“Her little white whippet-cross broke free while my daughter was inside the supermarket and ran out onto the road where she was struck by a car. ”
Glad you found DeeDee. Just curious about the actual reason for her running away.
Was DeeDee in a leash? Was she ever trained to stay and wait? It seems to me that she needs to learn the basics and bond better with your daughter to avoid running away in the future. It is all about connecting owners with dogs and building this trust through constant day to day training.
Gobbo said :
Thanks for that Gobbo, I’ll bear that in mind if I ever accidentally run over a snake…
Sandman said :
If you’re driving in a carpark and you don’t notice the dog you hit running around in circles in pain near your car, I question your level of concentration and awareness of what goes on around you.
I once had a young guy drive over my dog when she jumped off the back of a stationary ute. Obviously he was not at fault because the dog did jump right in front of his car and he was not driving fast at all. But the fact that he did not notice a big dog ready to jump off this ute parked on a narrow street did not at all give me confidence in his defensive driving abilities.
This isn’t about the law or about who’s at fault. But if I could choose who I would rather share the road with, the person who was oblivious to the fact that they hit a dog (or was about to hit it), the person who did notice but didn’t bother stopping or the person who was aware they hit an animal and got out to assist, I know who I would choose.
Who’s to say if the driver even knew they hit something? If you’ve got the radio turned up, the animal hits the wheel, how would you know if a small dog has bounced off your plastic flexible bumper? Hitting things at low speed (which I assume most would be doing past the Watson shops) would feel like a small pothole if anything to most people.
Pork Hunt said :
Not a road rule, but an animal welfare rule.
Section 10 of the Animal Welfare Act 1992 states the following:
downindowner said :
It is the law though – if your dog is not under control and causes damage to someone’s car, you are up for the costs.
Pork Hunt said :
(Hamlet takes the skull and flak jacket)
Alas, Pork Hunt! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it.
Without wishing to add fuel to a fire that should have (already has?) fizzled out; I guess a real benefit of stopping would have been that the driver could have told us what direction the dog ran in, rather than leaving us wondering and combing a much larger area to try and find her. As for sueing for damages to their car: really? tiny dog vs tonne of metal? ooh ooh your dog’s tooth scratched my paintwork. seems a bit of a long bow to me…
Im sorry Pork Hunt… but you failed and do sound like an asshole.
Do you also run over small children and leave them to fend for themselves?? For some of us our dogs (and cats) are family.
This being said, I do not stop for butterflies, so maybe I am just as bad in and insect lovers opinion.
Pork Hunt said :
Fail – you sound just like an asshole.
VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :
Oh what’s wrong, are the slow law abiding people sticking to the speed limit getting in the way of your awesome V8 driving, ultra skilled, only person on the the road that can really drive self?
Pork Hunt said :
Well, you did.
Stopping means you can help the animal. It might be the difference between it surviving, and dying a painful death. This dog ran off in pain and shock to hide and possibly die. Stopping would have prevented that.
Watson said :
Sadly, this is exactly the argument put forward by those of us who like to drive in the right hand lane for no reason…
Pork Hunt said :
so next time someone runs over him just leave him ok?
Holden Caulfield said :
+1
Pork Hunt said :
Because if it’s not the law, there cannot possibly be any reason to do it.
But yay, I’m so happy she was found and is ok!
Pork Hunt said :
Well, for starters the driver could show a bit of empathy with the owners and maybe help take the animal to a vet.
It’s not about fault, dollars or road rules – it’s about common decency.
Whilst not wishing to sound like an asshole, but unless the driver of the car was a vet, what value could he or she add to the already sad equation?
Is there a road rule that says you have to stop after hitting an animal?
Worst case was that you’d get a bill for any damage to the car or that the driver gave it a second thump to put the animal out of its misery.
Now, where did I put that flak jacket..?
PS I hope all including your daughter recover soon.
Awesome!