Time to invoke the blog-like qualities of this thread.
Last night as I was leaving the grocery store here, I noticed a cute little yappy papillon dog tied up outside. I looked and said "Hey little guy" (or words to that effect) as I normally do when I see a dog, but for some reason he really didn't want anyone talking to him, so he started backing up... into the street. At that moment, three things happened simultaneously:
1) The thought started forming in my brain "I'd better back away and leave the dog be".
2) Out of sheer instinct I said "Whoa hold on there!"
3) The dog slipped his lead.
The dog bolted across a street full of traffic. He was hit by a car doing maybe 15-25 kph. I think I just about had a heart attack. The dog kept running.
I couldn't cross the street immediately unless I wanted to share the dog's fate so I just stood there stupidly. Luckily two kids across the road saw what happened and clued in, and started chasing the dog. So I was trying to look for the owner, the dog, and the guy who hit the dog at the same time. The guy who hit the dog didn't even stop (in fairness, it's possible he may not have noticed), so then I was finally able to cross the street to help chase the dog. By then everyone was gone (approximate time elapsed maybe 20 or 30 seconds?).
I waited for the owner and explained what heppened. At that moment one of the two kids came back saying the dog had been coralled. We all went to catch up with the dog (who, as the owner explained, had run home), only to find that the dog and the second kid were gone. The dog had run off again, this time escaping the second kid when he ran across an even busier street. Everyone involved said the dog was running at pretty good clip, but then that doesn't preclude internal injuries or other things that wouldn't show up right away.
Searched for a while with the owner, then gave her my number. Walked back home and then Starr and I went out and searched again for a couple of hours. Last night was miserable weather. Rainy, cold (it froze overight). I knew a dog that size, possibly injured, had long odds against it surviving alone outdoors overnight. By the time I realized we weren't going to do a damn thing Starr damn near froze her hands off (which she only admitted when we were home), so I'm glad we didn't stay out longer.
At any rate, if the dog was picked up by someone, he should be okay. If not, if he crawled somewhere to hide... that little dog is almost certainly dead.
Maybe intellectually I can rationalize it as not being my fault, but I sure as hell feel responsible.
