Dangerous dog days of summer
With all the recent deaths on and off our roadways this summer, we need to take special care.
I recall a time growing up here in the valley when, if a young person tragically died in an accident, it affected everyone and basically the entire town shut down.
You couldn't find a single soul wandering or kids playing on the streets. How time has changed. A few weeks ago, a dark fuzzy object dove in front of my car. I didn't know what it was until I looked back. It was a cat.
I hit it hard and possibly killed the poor thing. I was in complete shock as to what I should do next. Traffic was heavy with cars traveling at high speeds. I just felt horrible.
I remember as a young child taking our beautiful white German Shepherd dog named King for a walk when he was unfortunately hit by a passing car and eventually died at the scene. It's such a traumatic experience seeing your dog crippled and suffering. The driver was kind enough to return to the scene and apologize. It wasn't his fault. To this day, I still wish we had taken him on a leash.
Yes, the right thing would be to turn around and assist.
But, I didn't have the heart to see it in dire straits. Even, if I did go back to the scene, who would I speak with? I spotted an SPCA employee later in the day. I informed her of the unfortunate mishap. She told me to always contact the city animal control for assistance.
Jodi Dunlop, branch manager of the Abbotsford SPCA said: "To always call the SPCA if you hit or see an injured an animal on the streets and they will take care of it after 5p.m. If it is between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. they should direct their calls to the Abbotsford Animal Control if it is a dog. If no one is available to assist, the SPCA will deal with it.
"We also help cats and rabbits. If it is an injured farm or domestic animal people should also call the SPCA and they will direct you."
A friend made an interesting statement in a conversation. It's not the first car that kills an animal, its usually the second car. If you hit an animal please stop and offer help or notify someone. I did return to the scene and there was no cat to be found anywhere. I am still hopeful.
On a happier note, I am having a lot of fun on my online blog site these days. But, there was one problem, my site needed a bit of back drop. It was simply too dull. A friend introduced me to Owen Greaves, a local social media expert, who basically changed my site within minutes and added the flavour it needed.
On Greaves website his slogan states: "I show you the future, then help you create ideas to adopt it."
- Ken Herar writes columns for the Abbotsford-Mission Times. Contact him at: Kenherar@gmail.com.
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