Have any of you ever hit a dog?

[boomersooner]

The husband, kids and I were traveling home last evening from my son's basketball camp in Oklahoma....Lots of cars on interstate 35....all traveling 70-75 mph....this beautiful dog came out of nowhere.....My husband didn't have a choice but to hit him.....it was either the dog or us, I'm sure of it....but it was such a horrible experience. We know the dog was killed instantly because of what we saw when we looked back...as well as the damage our car sustained. My husband is feeling so bad about it. He loves dogs as much as we all do.....He did everything he could to avoid it but had no choice. It makes me so mad that SOME people, certainly not all, think that because they live in the country, dogs don't have to be fenced....or this may have been some dog dumped by some irresponsible owner.....who knows....all I know is we are traumatized, our car has a lot of damage, and a beautiful big puppydog is now on the Rainbow Bridge......at least he can't be hurt there......

[caseysmom]

What a nightmare, I'm sorry you had to go through it. I hit a cat when I was a teenager, couldn't find the kitty anywhere after, it was at night I even went back with my dad and couldn't find it so I am hoping it didn't sustain a bad injury.

Makes it double hard when your children are in the car.

[Husky_mom]

I´m sorry for all involved.. it´s very sad.. but there are sometimes you just can´t avoid it.. even less at those speeds... hey even going slower sometimes you just can´t dodge em.. maybe another cars nearby or whatnot..

the lesser or two evils is that he died instantly and didn´t suffer...RIP doggy

I haven´t hit a dog.. but we have hit a few rabbits on a highway too

but I did had an experience of a dog hitting ME.. yeah.. he bolted out of his house and hit my car in the drivers door.. nothing serious I was going like 20km/hr.. he just bonked my car.. lol..

[moosmom]

30 years ago I was driving home after work. It was dark and the dog darted out in front of my car from in between parked cars. I did slam on my breaks but I heard a bump. I immediately got out and began looking for the dog, who was nowhere to be found. I knocked on doors but it was futile.

I felt like you do. But there are certain times when things like that happen and there's really nothing you can do about it.

[snakemama]

I hit and killed a...well, it was so dark, I don't know what it was, but it certainly could have been a smallish dog. I was a twisting road, the middle of the night, and as you said...the poor critter came out of nowhere. I had no way to avoid it. I still felt bad, but there was no way to change it.

[Freedom]

Oh goodness, one of my nightmares!

Nope never have. Years back, I thought I'd hit a squirrel on the highway ramp. I was sick all day, all night. Traveled that route next day (I just HAD to!), no signs of a squirrel. So I think he made it across.

I am SO very sorry that the entire family (or anyone in your family) had to go through this. I can well imagine, just horrible feeling.

[Twisterdog]

I'm sorry, that's very traumatic, I know.

I was driving in a residential area, going about 30 mph. A giant lab ran across the road out of nowhere and ran smack into the drivers door of my car! He yelped, got up, shook himself and kept running to the other side of the road. Hard head! I tried to catch him, but he seemed fine and kept going. It was wierd.

I also had a deer jump out of ditch beside the road and right into the hood of my car. The deer was not so lucky, it was dead by the time I pulled over and went to check. My car had some damage, but nothing terrible. Lucky.

I always try not to hit animals, and I will slow down if possible. Sometimes it's just not possible to avoid it. I have read to never try to swerve to miss an animal. A lot of time, the animal bolts anyway, and you end up hitting it even you swerve, and the danger of losing control of your vehicle or hitting another car is very real.

[boomersooner]

Yes, I'm glad he didn't swerve because to the right, he would have hit an car and to the left, we probably would have flipped...he did turn the car just a bit, but he kept control.....I cannot imagine hitting a deer....The man at the body shop today said his dad hit a cow once, and almost totalled a 2 ton pickup....I heard another story today about a person hitting a deer, and it came through the windshield but luckily the antlers were pointing the other way....Man, God was looking out for us, that is for sure....and I know He is taking care of that sweet puppydog now.....

[happylabs]

It is sad, but it would be much sadder if he had swerved and you and/or your family were hurt.

I hit a cat one time on my country road. I was devastated and crying. I pulled over and an Amish man came out from his barn. He said...eh it was just an old barn cat. Sad. I cried and cried.

It is tough for me not to swerve when I see any animal on the road.

[Marigold2]

I have been very lucky so far although I have come close to hitting deer and they jumped in front of my car.
I am so sorry that this horrible accident happened to your family. Please give you husband a PT hug and tell him he did the right thing, to have swerved and tried to avoid hitting the dog could have cost you all your lives.

[Taz_Zoee]

Shannon, as I told on Facebook, I was working at the day care and was in the van to go pick up kids from school. My co-worker was behind me in another van (I didn't much care for this co-worker). A black cat came out of nowhere and I didn't even have time to react. Which is probably a good thing since I was in a large van. I cried and cried so hard. When we got to the school the girl from the other van came up to my van and when I got out she just grabbed me and held on to me until I calmed down enough to go get the kids.
On the way back we passed the kitty who was in the middle of the road. I almost started crying again. It was very hard not to.

When I was in high school my sister came to pick me up one night after cheerleading practice (or a game). On the way home we hit a cocker spaniel. We turned around to look for it but couldn't find it. It was near the house of a guy I went to school with. So I asked him if he had a cocker and he said he has four of them. I asked if they were all okay and told him what happened. He said he noticed there was a black oil like streak down the back of the male but he was okay. Whew!

Another time I was with a guy I was dating and it was dark. The car in front of us hit a dog and I saw it go flying. I FREAKED out and was crying hysterically. I think (I can't even remember) the car that hit it stopped, but we kept going. He was not an animal lover. Hmph, that's why I'm not with him now.

Sometimes we just can't help it. I grew up in the country and have seen several accidents because people swerved to miss an animal. Even had a few deaths because people hit a cow or horse. I called 911 one time because as I exited the freeway a big brown horse ran across the road. I followed it because I didn't want it to go onto the freeway. I never did find out if they found him.

Big hugs to you and your family. And just take peace that the pup is not in pain and is playing at the bridge.