Well, I was on my way to work tonight (another extra shift) and I was already in a bad mood. I got 3 hours of sleep, they called to see if I'd work (why I said yes, I still don't know) and I was in a bit of a hurry. I decided to take a shortcut because I was running behind... Yea, I may have been going a titch fast, but it was a gravel road and I was well under the maximum speed limit of 55 MPH. Granted, it's my fault because my mind was elsewhere, and I was crying... Well, I hit a dog. Right in front of a house, I hit a dog. He bounced off my front quarter panel and flipped and rolled into the ditch. This was just enough to take me from quietly crying in my car, to a sobbing, snot-bubbling mess. I got out and the dog was still alive, but one of his front legs was beyond repair. I'll save you the details. He had no collar, but I knew he was someone's pet. Anyhow, to make matters worse, I see a man running towards me. I knew this was their dog. I was expecting him to be upset, but I was not expecting what happened next.
The next thing I know, before I can even begin utter an apology, the man is in my face, screaming at me. I mean, obscenities, threats, the whole works. At first, I didn't know what to do. I just kind of stood there, in shock. But haivng worked in the ER, my instincts quickly took over, and I knew something was not right. His fury was not the fury of an upset dog owner, and it was escelating by the nanosecond to the rage of a man high on something and out of his mind. His eyes sent a chill all the way down my back, and I knew I would be in trouble if I did not do something, NOW. There was no talking to this man, and it was like lightning it all happened so fast. I did not want to leave this dog in the ditch, still suffering, but I could not risk my own safety. (The part of this story that makes me the most upset) So, without turning my back to this enraged idiot, I slowly made my way to the car, then to the door, then inside, and locked the doors and drove off. I watched him in the rear-vier mirror. He hit the trunk of my car as I was driving away, screamed at me, and then he disappeared into the dust I was leaving as I was racing away.
I didn't even think to call the sheriff then. I just wanted out of there. And if you thought I was crying before, you should have seen me after that. I was a mess. The first thing I did when I got to the highway was call work and tell them why I would be late. I still hadn't thought about calling the law. But as soon as I got to work, the charge nurse told me I needed to call the sheriff and make a report. So I did, and they sent an officer out to the ER to talk to me. The benefit of working in the ER is that you get to know some of the local LEO's pretty good, and I knew the one who came out to talk to me. Of course I had no idea what the address was, but I did know the name of the road, and sort-of what the house and surroundings were. I told him what happened, and he said he was going out to talk to this guy. I asked him to check on the dog.
Well, another benefit of working in the ER is that the EMT's have a scanner in dispatch. So, I tried to listen to the scanner, but we were busy. About an hour later the deputy came back and asked me if I wanted to press charges. I told him no, but I did ask about the dog. He patted me on the shoulder and told me the dog was still in the ditch when he arrived. Since the dog had no collar, and the man just left him there for the coyotes, he made the decision to put him down.
The man never did come to the door, even after the shot was fired.
I just want to crawl under a rock and die. What a horrible weekend it has been.
The next thing I know, before I can even begin utter an apology, the man is in my face, screaming at me. I mean, obscenities, threats, the whole works. At first, I didn't know what to do. I just kind of stood there, in shock. But haivng worked in the ER, my instincts quickly took over, and I knew something was not right. His fury was not the fury of an upset dog owner, and it was escelating by the nanosecond to the rage of a man high on something and out of his mind. His eyes sent a chill all the way down my back, and I knew I would be in trouble if I did not do something, NOW. There was no talking to this man, and it was like lightning it all happened so fast. I did not want to leave this dog in the ditch, still suffering, but I could not risk my own safety. (The part of this story that makes me the most upset) So, without turning my back to this enraged idiot, I slowly made my way to the car, then to the door, then inside, and locked the doors and drove off. I watched him in the rear-vier mirror. He hit the trunk of my car as I was driving away, screamed at me, and then he disappeared into the dust I was leaving as I was racing away.
I didn't even think to call the sheriff then. I just wanted out of there. And if you thought I was crying before, you should have seen me after that. I was a mess. The first thing I did when I got to the highway was call work and tell them why I would be late. I still hadn't thought about calling the law. But as soon as I got to work, the charge nurse told me I needed to call the sheriff and make a report. So I did, and they sent an officer out to the ER to talk to me. The benefit of working in the ER is that you get to know some of the local LEO's pretty good, and I knew the one who came out to talk to me. Of course I had no idea what the address was, but I did know the name of the road, and sort-of what the house and surroundings were. I told him what happened, and he said he was going out to talk to this guy. I asked him to check on the dog.
Well, another benefit of working in the ER is that the EMT's have a scanner in dispatch. So, I tried to listen to the scanner, but we were busy. About an hour later the deputy came back and asked me if I wanted to press charges. I told him no, but I did ask about the dog. He patted me on the shoulder and told me the dog was still in the ditch when he arrived. Since the dog had no collar, and the man just left him there for the coyotes, he made the decision to put him down.
The man never did come to the door, even after the shot was fired.
I just want to crawl under a rock and die. What a horrible weekend it has been.
