The Importance of Leashes

A few months ago, I was driving through North Georgia, and I spotted something hobbling along the side of the road.  It was early Sunday morning and snow had started falling pretty heavily, but even with limited visibility, there was no doubt in my mind that it was an injured dog.  I won’t go into detail, but the poor little guy (or girl) looked like he had been hit by a car, and he looked scared.  I was trying to get home before the snow really started coming down, but my conscience got the better of me, and I turned around to try to find him.  I saw him dart into a trailer park, so I decided my best bet would be to call animal control.  Their answering service told me to call 911, and I did just that.  It took me a while to figure out where I was exactly, but the 911 operator and I worked together and she was able to get the message to animal control.  The animal control employee called me later, asking for more details, but I don’t know if he ever found the dog.  

That poor dog who could barely move his back end haunted me for days, and unfortunately, it hit way too close to home.  When I first got my older dog, Gabby, I was living with my parents in the house where I grew up.  My family has several acres of land there on a really quiet road in Winston.  For as long as I can remember, we’ve let our dogs roam free.  For the most part, they didn’t get into the road, and there was never much traffic to worry about anyway.  

All of that changed one evening when a pizza delivery boy came to the door.  He asked if I had a brown and white dog, and I said yes.  He told me someone had hit her with a car and drove off, but she was still very much alive.  I think I slammed the door in his face and ran to change out of my pajamas.   Long story short, my parents and I were able to find her and get her into a car.  She was covered in blood and had all sorts of things wrong that I won’t get into for those of you with a weak stomach, and I just knew this was it.  Due to my own irresponsibility, I was going to lose my dog. 

We took her to the 24-hour emergency veterinarian hospital on Thornton Road.  Thanks to those doctors and the late Dr. Maggie Mercer, she was home within a week with some scars, some missing teeth and some stiches.  I was out several thousand dollars, but I had my best friend back.  I couldn’t imagine not having her with me throughout the last nine years.   It was a lesson I had to learn the hard way.  Gabby now gets walked on a leash unless she is in an area where she can’t get near a road. 

These days, I see so many dogs roaming the streets and chasing cars, and it makes me so sad.  I see dogs when I visit the animal shelter who have been hit by cars.  Dogs don’t always know to stay away from the road; it is entirely up to their owners to see to it that they stay safe and out of harm’s way.  One wrong decision and you can lose your pet.  Not only that, but it’s against the law.  Both the city of Douglasville and Douglas County have leash laws in place.     

I just wanted to write this to say if you care about your pet at all, please see to it that he or she is restrained or at least supervised at all times.   Today, I was driving home from the store and one of my neighbors’ dog chased me for a while.  I slowed down so I wouldn’t hit him, but I know the next person may not.