I took Old Red out for a spin this afternoon and there were an exceptional number of dogs running loose. It was a beautiful fall day with a little nip in the air, the kind of day that makes the horses "feel their oats". These dogs were loping happily along the roadside, in and out of yards. I managed to miss them all, which is pretty important for a motorcyclist. Road hazards can be generally classified as squishable versus non-squishable. Dogs are not too squishable, so you really can’t run over them successfully ("successfully" meaning here that you keep rolling forward with the shiny side up and the rubber side down).
For a dog, getting successfully run over could be defined as having injuries that are fixable. I’ve posted on HBC (hit by car) before, but this has been a bit of a bad week for it… dogs being unsuccessfully run over, I mean. A swell Labrador’s rear end was fractured to the point that multiple expensive orthopedic surgeries would be required, and that with no guarantee of normal function. Last night a beautiful Great Dane puppy’s head was smacked hard enough to scramble his brain.
Maybe loping along free and unfettered is the dog equivalent of riding a motorcycle. Maybe the E.R. physicians have the same opinion of motorcyclists that I do of letting your dog run loose. On the other hand, I always wear my body armor and I spend a lot of time watching out for cars… and dogs running loose.
I’ve just recently moved back to the country, and I’m stunned at how many people let their dogs run loose.
Do they think that ‘their dog’ can never be hit? I wonder if they’re aware of how many close calls their dogs face on a daily basis. I swerve for the dog up the road almost every time I drive past. He’s an accident waiting to happen.
Mine are ALWAYS either leashed or behind a fence. I know full well how quickly accidents can happen…