It was a normal Wednesday morning, Oct. 5, around 5:30 a.m. I was out for my morning walk with my neighbor and my dog. We were headed west on Fillmore, not quite halfway through our normal 3-mile trek.
A car heading southbound on Taylor Street came to a stop at the stop sign on the north side of the intersection, so we began to cross on the south side. We were about halfway across, dog in front, followed by me, then my neighbor, when that car accelerated right into us. In that split-second when I realized the driver had no intention of stopping, I had to make a choice: try to run the rest of the way across the street with my dog in tow, both of us most likely getting hit, or drop the leash and jump backwards out of the way and pray that the dog could make it across in time.
I chose the latter.
The car missed hitting my leg by less than a foot, but hit my dog straight on. My neighbor, thankfully, was two steps behind and out of harm’s way. The two of us screamed at the top of our lungs, while that car just kept on going, dragging my poor dog underneath for nearly half a block.
To the driver of that car: How did you not see two adults and a large dog crossing the road? How could you not have heard the bang of that impact as you hit a 65-pound Golden Retriever? How did you not hear her crying as you brutally dragged her under your car? How do you live with the fact that you never even stopped?
To the people on the 1100 and 1150 blocks of South Taylor: What kind of town do we live in that no one comes out of their house to see why two women are screaming hysterically at 5:30 in the morning? Or even bothers to call the police?
To everyone else: That Golden Retriever must be the luckiest dog on the planet. Not only did she survive the initial impact, but managed to get herself free and get out from under that car without ever getting hit by a tire. While she ran away terrified after the incident (and try as I might, I just couldn’t catch her), she found her way home and returned shortly after I did. And amazingly enough, she came away with no broken bones, her only serious injury being a small perforation in her lung, which is healing nicely.
I have been taking early morning walks nine months out of the year for nearly five years and have never encountered anything remotely like this. Not only did this driver never stop, but the entire incident seemed practically intentional.
So if you’re an early morning walker/runner like I am, be on your guard. My dog and I both got lucky that morning, but the next person might not.
