Horrible experience...please encourage..what should I have done?

Question

I was driving on my road to an appt this morning, this road is a highway, very busy, and at school time. Anyway, I came upon a dog that had been hit by a car laying in the middle of the road, soo of course I stopped, I had to stop in the middle of the road as there are nothing but ditches on either side. So I get out and approach the dog who looked like it had minor injuries, now I am in the middle of the road waving my arms, jumping up and down to slow traffic and have them go around. Needless to say not one person stopped to help me. I called my vet to get him ready and he told me not to attepmt to get the dog with my bare hands cause it could turn on me and it may bite, which scared me to death, I love all animals and dogs that I know, but I am a cat lady, I rescue and spay and nueter and rehome cats all the time, I have 7 of my own and have placed probably 50 others. So I call animal control who I also know and asked him to rush to come help me, meanwhile I left the poor dog .

I went a mile up the road and a lady gave me a thick blanket so I could pick him up. When I went back he was gone!! I was devastated, I called all the vets and the shelter and noone had seen him. I went back to the area and me and animal control walked the ditch lines for about a mile. I have been back 2 x now and still have not seen him. I hope someone got him or he was just stunned and needed to chill and then left. But I feel soooo guilty for not just grabbing him up but I was too afraid. I close my eyes and I see him, I feel so bad. What would you have done? Please be nice I have beaten myself up over this and will for some time to come.

Please reread the whole post.

Answer 1

First, an injured animal can be quite dangerous so it's a good idea not to try to handle them without the proper equipment and protection. Also, moving an injured animal can often do more damage (sometime kill them) unless the animal is small or compact enough to easily carry. You did what you could. Most probably, the dog gathered enough stamina to stand up and flee even though he's injured. If the dog had fatal injuries, he may have just taken himself off somewhere so he could die in peace. Hopefully, he made it back home and his owner took him to the vet. Since you do rescue animals, you might want to consider keeping road flares in your car (to divert oncoming traffic), a cardboard carrier box or two that you can collapse and keep in the trunk, some water, and old towels or blankets. Whoever ran the dog over without stopping should be the one agonizing with guilty.

Answer 2

Hi There! I don't think anyone can say what they would have done in your situation. We weren't there we don't know. That being said I would like to share a similar experience my hubby had a couple of years ago. A dog had been hit by a car and was lying in the street. My hubby pulled over and went to the dog. He tried to pick the dog up and move it to the side of the street so it would not be run over again. The dog bit him on the hand. He managed to get the dog moved and went to a home close by and asked them to call animal control the homeowner agreed to stay and wait for them. My hubby came home. We had to go to the ER where he had several stiches. You never know how an injured animal will react. You also do not know if an animal is by nature gentle and loving or mean and aggressive. You did all the right things. The animal was obviously picked up by someone or you would have found it. You did more than anyone else did. And more than most people would.

Answer 3

I know that it was probably not easy for you to leave the dog, but you did the right thing. I love dogs, too, but as awful as it may sound to some people, you need to put yourself first. You put yourself at risk at it was, stopping on a busy road like that, you could have gotten hurt.

Your vet was right, even normally nice animals will bite if they're in pain and stressed. And you don't know if that dog has been vaccinated or what it's history was.

I'm sure animal control was able to help the dog. And at least you cared enought to try to make other motorists steer clear of the dog, and you called animal control, which is a lot more than the other people were doing. Maybe you can call animal control and see how things went with the dog to put your mind at ease?

Answer 4

Your safety was the first thing that you needed to consider. The dog might have had rabies for all you knew. It is never advisable to handle any injured dog without taking the appropriate precautions to assure that you will not get injured in the process. You attempted to assist an animal in need. Someone might have stopped and picked the dog up or maybe it's injuries were minor enough that it got up and went home. I think the fact that it wasn't found dead in the road or along the side of the road are positive signs. You did a wonderful thing and I'm proud of you. Now please stop worrying about something that is out of your control.

Answer 5

It's really nice to know that there are still a lot of people who care that much. You've done the right thing. But, if I were you, I'll never leave the poor dog behind. Something bad might happen especially since the dog is in the middle of the road. I'll rather wait for help (including all the people I've called for help).

Answer 6

Put a towel over the head and use something belt bungie cord anything and tie the mouth. You cannot handle an animal in that level of pain with bare hands.

There was nothing you could have done. At least you had the heart to try and help the poor thing.

Be comforted in that

Answer 7

Well it looks like you did the right thing however you should have stayed with the dog- im sure feeling abandoned on the road is always really sad. As long as you got the pup help though I am sure that its all you could have done and its in better hands than the road would have delt it. Keep it up- next time have an emergency vet on speed dial (they have vans that can come to the scene similar to an ambulance but for furry friends.

Answer 8

I would have wrapped the dogs head in a coat, if possible or tie the mouth shut with any cord like material. Then I would have put the dog in the trunk to secure it from being frantic while painful and in transport. This is just me, I am a die hard dog lover.
I think in your circumstances you did the best you could do. As a back up plan, call the humane society or animal control or state troopers or police to report the HBC dog so that it does not cause motorists to crash or become harmed as well.
Don't feel too bad, as I am sure whatever senario had panned out a regret would still be lingering.

Answer 9

Please don't beat yourself up about this..you did the best thing. It sounds tough, bt it was not your responsibility to care for this dog. You took the advice available to you, which was they best thing. you could not guarantee that the dog would not harm you, and there is no way you should have put yourself in danger. If the dog was gone when you got back, you have to assume either it got up and walked away, or that it's owner came and got it. If it only had minor injuries, i'm sure it is ok now.

If it helps, at least you were the one who stopped to help, but i think you did what was best

Answer 10

Don't torture yourself with guilt. You called animal control. I'm sure they came right away and helped the animal get the attention it needed.

You did the right thing. You don't want to risk getting bitten yourself. You may have gotten a serious disease or injury from that. You also shouldn't have stayed by the dog as you could have gotten hit and fatally wounded. Chin up, you called for help from the experts and now the dog is getting help.