I absolutely love dogs, but there is one by Kisbey that I feel like I should scold or throw rocks at.
Yes, that sounds like animal cruelty, but if it will save the animal's life then maybe it should be done.
Driving along Hwy 13 I've almost hit this dog twice now. The first time I was driving along and noticed a group of kids on bicycles on the side of the road, then on the other side of the road I noticed what looked like a garbage bag from the distance I was at. I slowed down a little paying attention more to the kids than to the garbage bag, when all of a sudden I noticed the garbage bag shoot out.
It was a dark coloured dog that had been crouched down seemingly waiting to chase a vehicle, my vehicle. So as it lunged forward I did the checks and with no oncoming vehicles and the one following me a fair ways back went into evasive manoeuvres to avoid running the dog over.
Had a vehicle been coming, I would have chosen to run over the dog as opposed to swerve into oncoming traffic.
I didn't hear anything or feel anything that indicated I had hit the animal, so checked in my mirrors and noticed it was still standing, stopped in the road. The vehicle that had been a ways behind had the opportunity to slow right down and they too had to go around the dog now standing in the road like it was a game.
It would have upset me greatly to have run the thing over, especially in front of the kids on their bicycles.
The next time I had to drive by Kisbey I was following a vehicle at a distance. All of a sudden this dog is out at the road wanting to chase the first vehicle. I had already slowed down wondering if the dog was around and when I noticed it, checked my mirrors again and with no one behind me slowed right down. As the dog realized it wouldn't be able to get the first vehicle it stopped and as I passed it, the dog started chasing after my truck again.
As I returned home after my interviews, I instantly slowed down considerably as soon as I got to Kisbey, ready for the dog to coming whipping out of the ditch. Thankfully it didn't.
So, here is a warning to anyone reading this, watch out for a dog by Kisbey to come darting out after you as you're driving along. People should be paying attention to their surroundings anyway, but watching for deer and other wildlife can be difficult as it's hard to know where they might be or if they'll pop out at anytime. At least precautions can be taken along Hwy 13 at Kisbey to avoid colliding with someone's pet.
I remember our dog on the farm got run over. To be honest I think it had some sort of issues because the dog was a bit of a wing nut in the sense that he was constantly hyper and always tried to bite tires.
It was this incessant desire to bite moving tires that would be his downfall as he darted out at a vehicle and was killed by the trailer the driver was hauling. Getting home from school my parents told us that the dog had been hit. My reaction was mixed, I thought two things: what a dumb dog and how I would miss him.
After all, Wilbur might have been a "dumb dog," but he was my "dumb dog." He wasn't really dumb, I was just upset that he had been run over.
Guaranteed the owner of the dog near Kisbey would be upset if anything happened to it which is why I wanted to write about it, but to also just make people aware that there could be an animal ready to emerge from the surrounding area at anytime along this stretch of highway because we can all at least try to take action in slowing down and being a little extra attentive to avoid the dog.
