A tale of Good Samaritanism, and Bad Driverism

Just received a note about something traumatic that happened on Admiral earlier today, with a request to let everyone know about those who did a very good deed as a result. We’re putting it up exactly as we received it, and it’s a bit long, so if you’re seeing this on the home page, click ahead to read:

While driving down the West side of Admiral this morning, two loose dogs ran across the street. I hit my brakes and laid on my horn–unfortunately, the guy in the maroon sedan coming up the hill either didn’t notice or didn’t care and hit one of the dogs. I have a hard time believing he didn’t notice because my car horn was blaring and he hit the dog hard enough that it broke off a piece of his bumper.

I pulled over and wrangled the second dog into my car. A woman named Cinda pulled over, covered the deceased dog with a towel, carried him to a yard and called the owner. One man jumped out and started directing traffic around us; another lit flares and set them out for further traffic control.

When the dogs’ owner showed up, she was inconsolable–the dog belonged
to her husband who had been killed two years ago. One of the neighbors brought her tea; Cinda continued to call people to find someone to be with this young woman.

I’ve since received a phone call from the owner’s brother thanking me
for helping his sister. I want to forward that thanks to everyone who
stopped and did what they could for the dogs and for the owner.

I also want to stress how incredibly important it is to have your
animals licensed! Because the dogs were so well-licensed and identified, we were able to reach the owner immediately.

Thanks again to everyone who helped our neighbor.

10 Replies to "A tale of Good Samaritanism, and Bad Driverism"

  • Trevor F. Smith April 29, 2007 (9:06 pm)

    I love this place.

  • Erin April 29, 2007 (9:23 pm)

    First, my sympathies to the woman and her deceased husband and dog. How terrible to lose both in such a short time frame.

    Thanks to those who still have the decency to be considerate and stop and care for their fellow mankind.

    It is hard sometimes, even to get a hello in response as I walk by on my way to the grocery store or library (yes, here in WS). To see this kind of humanity reminds me that there is hope. If I just smile and say hello to enough dejected folks along the way, maybe I too can make a difference.

  • The House April 30, 2007 (7:51 am)

    Yawn….I think licensing illegal aliens is more worthy of my time than licensing dogs and cats….dogs and cats don’t use my tax dollars.

    Kudos to the folks that stopped to help, though.

  • Todd April 30, 2007 (8:53 am)

    I was in church shortly after this incident. At a time during mass when the congregation is asked who they would like to pray for, one woman said she wanted prayers for the man who she saw hit a dog while she was on her way to church. Another woman, Cinda?, asked for prayers for the owner of the dog. She was on the verge of tears and told us briefly about how she stopped and called the owner and the owners cross to bear as of late.
    I was pleasantly surprised at the “kindness of strangers.” I learned something from this and maybe others will to? Briefly, we all can take the time to slow down our cars and heck, say hi to a stranger or fellow West Seattle neighbor.

  • Aidan Hadley April 30, 2007 (9:05 am)

    An excellent account of a traumatic event. Kudos to the people who helped though I’m sad that what should be normal behavior in a civil society should be elevated as exceptional. Pity that a dog had to die because an owner could not keep their animals under control and out of the road. It is fortunate that people weren’t hurt trying to avoid them.

  • Angela April 30, 2007 (9:22 am)

    We came up Admiral shortly after the accident and was detoured around it by the nice gentleman directing traffic. We saw the dog lying in the road being consoled and all the wonderful people stopped taking care of it. My heart goes out to the woman who lost her dog after tragically losing her husband. And many thanks to all those who helped. Bless you all.

  • Jan April 30, 2007 (2:22 pm)

    House…I’m sure you’re not, but you sometimes come across as cold and uncaring. This wasn’t about licensing….although it helped. It was about how people don’t treat each other, and about how they should and do….life is precious…even animals, and it is way too short to feign boredom at a story like this. The people who stopped to help deserve kudos…and hopefully the man who hit the dog will read some of this and realize how awful he was in this situation.

  • Jan April 30, 2007 (4:25 pm)

    House…I just took myself to task…that wasn’t very nice of me, it was judgemental, and doesn’t belong on here. I find most everything you say insightful , humorous, relevant, and it’s great having you here among us :)

  • The House April 30, 2007 (9:57 pm)

    Jan, I find it interesting that my comment/your reply stewed for 2 hours in between posts.

    Feel free to judge me…I value your opinion.

    I did give kudos to the folks that stopped. I simply looked at it from a different perspective. It sucks that the dog died. The reality is that there was probably a reason why the indivdual didn’t stop (not insured, warrant for arrest, etc). I don’t think that individual did the right thing, but I also don’t see the point in getting worked up over a dog being run over. Why was the dog loose in the first place? Would you have felt better if the individual swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid it? Would stopping the vehicle make the dog come back to life?

  • Jan May 1, 2007 (11:33 am)

    House…I totally agree with you about the dog running loose. Owning a pet comes with a bit of responsibility. Licensing them and then letting them run loose is NOT responsible, no matter your circumstances. I’m sorry this woman was devastated…her life circumstances suck at the moment…but it should be a lesson to everyone with a dog.

    I guess we all feel that the driver should have stopped, whatever his circumstances…sucks to be him, too.

    Those two hours? Unfortunately, I had a client (am a massage therapist), so got back as soon as I could. I try to not judge anyone, it sometimes is hard to practice than it seems :)

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