Just had a call from plod

[DennisTheMenace]

About the accident on thursday night (see here www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=30653&f=23&h=0 ),
It was a dog i hit a german shepard , but it had no collar or id chip and no one has come forward to say there dog is missing ,
ive now got to take my driving licence into the police station along with my insurance ,
i just hope plod find the owner so i can the shite out of them and also point the insurance in there direction so they can claim for the damage to the focus,
That'll teach them for being negligent in looking after the poor dog i hit .

[Deester]

Its frustrating I know, it is possible that the dog has escaped its owner. We had a dog once who liked to run away occasionally and no matter how hard we tried to keep him in he found a way out.

[ultimapaul]

Deester said: Its frustrating I know, it is possible that the dog has escaped its owner. We had a dog once who liked to run away occasionally and no matter how hard we tried to keep him in he found a way out.

This is so true, our little git used to EAT through the 6' fence. Then he learnt to jump onto the BBQ and over the fence. Then he learned how to dig!

Now at 17 he ain't got the energy ..... we can still tell when a local bitch is on heat tho' .... he actually gaets out of his basket!

[Mrs Fish]

My aunts dog was so randy before he got the snip that if there was a bitch on heat anywhere near he would manage to get out of the house. Believe it or not one day he had actually managed to open the upstairs sash window, jump out onto the coal house and then he was off.

[Boosted LS1]

My dog used to clear off for 3 days at a time if he found a bitch in season. One winter we found him doing a stake out. He had fought off all the other dogs but was full of holes and cuts. There was snow on the ground and he could hardly walk. He's been dead for many years but I can still recognise his decendants so it was all worthwhile for his blood line. His tail was pretty distinctive as was his colour so when I see a mutt just like that I know where it came from. He was definately the hardest bastard where I used to live but I wouldn't want another dog, that dog aggressive again.

[robp]

DennisTheMenace - I guess the insurance company / hire car company sorted it out then?!

How did your new employer take it?

[DennisTheMenace]

robp the company just said dont worry accidents happen , and they seemed more concerned that i was ok rather than the car etc (bit odd for an employer to care these days) , got to sort everything out monday the manager is coming down to have a look at the car , they are on about just getting it fixed up without going through the insurance .

[RiverGirrl]

Dennis, really sorry to hear the news, especially as a dog owner, or rather, being owned by my dog (who is a GSD ) I normally have Copper on a lead when I leave the house, and most certainly when I walk her along the pavement. I often wonder about owners who walk their dogs on the pavement without a lead. OK, so maybe they trust their dog, or it is street-wise...but what if it sees a cat or squirrel and runs into the road? You *never* know...and I don't take chances with Copper. She is always on a lead unless I am in a secure area, like the woods or a park or the like. I also know dogs escape from their homes/gardens, etc. and some accidents can't be helped. Chin up, Dennis

[dave_s13]

RiverGirrl said:I often wonder about owners who walk their dogs on the pavement without a lead. OK, so maybe they trust their dog,

i always WONDER about these people, it just seems like madness to walk a dog down the path and not have it on a lead????

My two halfwitted mongies would get squished in a matter of minutes.

What about guide dogs though, they're just bloomin magic IMO.

I can well appreciate how nasty it is to hit a dog, I once had a very similar experience only I saw it all as an onlooker who ended up having to shoehorn a very big and very pissed off German Shepard into the back of my old 200sx and off to the vets.......that was a bit tense.

[RichardR]

Deester said: Its frustrating I know, it is possible that the dog has escaped its owner.

This is possible, but I would expect any responsible owner to have their dog chipped (not for performance reasons you understand ). A German Shepherd is not going to be the cheapest dog to own anyway, so the price of the chipping should really be inconsequential. It was unfortunate that they chose to abolish the dog license a while back rather than upping the price and tying it in with chipping.

Anyhow, Dennis, since the owner of a dog is liable for any accident that it causes, I guess that should indicate that you're off the hook. If they can't find the owner, maybe it'll be classed as an uninsured loss.

I was in a similar situation a few years ago when I got a new Fiat Bravo HGT as a company car - the first (and only) brand new car that I'd ever had. Less than a week after getting it, I was on my way from Farnham towards Hook late at night, doing a comfortable speed, when a muntjack deer appeared in the road. It countered my evasive actions, and I hit it fair and square, killing it instantly. I did stop and call the police, although they weren't insterest, presumably as it was a wild animal. Anyway, I ended up driving round with a smashed up front end for about 3 months thanks to a slow insurance company - it put a real dampener on my brand new car driving experience and, of course, I had to put up with some major piss-taking at work!

[DennisTheMenace]

Thanks chaps (and chapess ) heres the damage to the car
giving my springers lots of attenion at the moment i think if they knew what happened they would disown me all 3 of mine are chipped (noticed a bit more "pull on the lead when walking them" ) still feeling a bit down about hitting the dog but at the end of the day it shouldnt have been out on an A road , i REALLY want to meet the owner though

Edited to look a bit neater.......ish

>> Edited by DennisTheMenace on Tuesday 4th March 14:14