I want your opinion to a situation that happened last night.
Neighbors past me had a rat terrier that their 7 year old daughter adored! Spike got run over and killed by another neighbor that drives by our houses daily, and he does NOT drive fast, maybe 25 mph. We live on a country road, no speed limits out here. On our road (1.5 miles long) there are only 3 houses, I am in the middle of these.
So, Melvin was driving by in his old PU truck, pulling an empty flatbed trailer. The dog either ran after the truck, or was across the road, tried to cross between the truck and trailer, but was run over by the trailer. The saddest part is the little girl was sitting on the front porch and saw it happen.
OK, so Melvin's wife was following him in her van, saw the dog get hit and killed, so she stopped. Melvin didn't even see the dog, but he felt the bump and looked back and saw the dog.
The owner, Tim, chewed out Karen, the wife, telling her Melvin was driving too fast, especially since they have 3 dogs and 2 kids in the yard! He was cussing up and storm, dropping the "F" bomb left and right. Karen was appalled!
Melvin and Karen both stopped by my house, I was mowing pastures, and told me what happened. I told them Tim was upset that his dog got killed, and acted irrationally, but it was the stress of the moment. I'm sure poor Siera was crying up and storm, she sure did love all the dogs, but especially Spike. I feel so very sorry for her.
BUT, to have her dad cussing like that, making it seem like it was Melvin's fault that the dog got killed, that rubs me wrong. In my opinion, living in the country does allow us to let our dogs run more freely than in town; however, I am responsible for my dogs, and if they get on the road and get killed, it's my fault, not the driver's. I would feel really bad if any of my dogs got killed, but would feel as bad or worse for the driver that ran one over.
Also, I had a young Boston get killed exactly the same way as Spike, he tried to cross the road behind a truck, but didn't notice the ammonia tank that the truck was pulling, and was killed. That truck was not going more than 15 mph. It had nothing to do with the speed, but rather with the fact the truck was pulling the trailer.
I think Tim was wayyyy out of line to blame Melvin and cuss out his wife for killing their dog. I think it was Tim's responsibility and his wife's to keep their animals and children safe and off the road.
Your thoughts?
