Yesterday evening Grace and I set off in the car for our final walk of the day. Was going to go up in the hills as it is so beautiful, but changed our minds and decided to go over the fields here.... until we saw two people and two dogs heading the same way. So off in the direction of the hills we went. We were on the dual carriageway in rush hour traffic - it was just gone 5.30 - and I was approaching a junction when to my horror, a Tricolour Border Collie came up the dual carriageway into the on coming traffic. Hasty decision made NOT to stop on the dual carriageway as I didnt want to put Grace in danger, so I shot round the left turn and rammed the car up the high curb on to the triangular central reservation thing between the two lanes on the single carriageway wed just turned on to. I grabbed a lead, locked the car and ran back up the side of the dual carriageway hoping I wouldnt be too late and that I could find the dog. I spotted her straight away - she kept stepping out in front of cars which were swerving to avoid her. Someone helpfully wound their window down and yelled at me Your dogs up there. Nice of you to slow down and stop, I thought to myself.... The roar of the traffic was quite horrendous as they were doing 60 mph but by that stage I was at least going to try to get the dog. I called to her and waved my arms - she turned and looked at me and stopped. I crouched down in the road and stretched out wide my arms and called and encouraged her to come. By this time a very nice lady had stopped her car in the lane closest to us which made the rest of the cars in that lane also stop, apart from the tossers that couldnt be fagged to wait for a few minutes and overtook into the other lane. The dog started to come towards me and I kept calling. She kept coming and lay down at my feet. I fell onto my knees and slipped my fingers under her collar and stroked her face and told her how good she was before trying to attach the lead to her collar and trying to take her away - I didnt know if she would freak out and drag us into the road. She hid her face in my shoulder and of course, the stress and shock kicked in and I started to cry (pretty much as Im doing now writing this). Nice lady in car next to me asked if I was okay and if the dog was okay. She thought it was my dog. I explained that she wasnt and said that she looked okay. I thanked her for stopping and she thanked me for catching the dog. I guided the dog back to our car and emptied all the crap out of my boot. Didnt know if she was going to let me lift her in to the boot - I gingerly tried to lift her and she cringed and cowered, so I stroked her some more and told her that we had to get her in the car. Thinking, well if youre going to bite me, youre going to bite me, but youre getting in the car, I lifted her up and put her in and tied her lead to one of the hooks in the boot in case she tried to jump out when I opened the boot again and I lost her. I went to the nearest house just round the corner and asked if they had lost a dog. They hadnt. I tried to remember how to switch my mobile on so I could ring directory inquiries to get the number of the dog pound. For the life of me I couldnt remember any of the directory inquiry phone numbers - my brain had gone to mush in the shock. Then I had to top up the bloody phone before I could use it anyway and that took ages as I kept pressing the wrong buttons.... Finally had some credit and remember 118118 and dialed and got the number. That one call cost me £9. Yes, £9!! I couldnt believe it! Anyway, I phoned the pound and the owner, Marty answered and I said who I was and what had happened - of course she knew me - it was the pound where Pepper and Chandi had come from - and she asked if I could bring the dog over to them as her son had taken the van in the opposite direction to go pick up another stray. We all drove the 38 mile round trip to the pound and the dog was scanned for a chip. She had one and was called Skye. Three phone calls later and Marty finally left a message after being told (by message) to keep ringing a different number, then another one, that Skye was at the pound and that they could come collect her tomorrow at 9 am and there was a £50 fine to pay (what about not having a tag on her collar, I thought?!). Anyway, I just phoned up to see if Skye has been collected. No, she hasnt. Apparently the owners - farmers - called to say they would collect her, but they havent, as yet, bothered. The girl I spoke to at the pound said that many people dont bother to do as they say and just dont ever show up to collect their dog. I shall phone again later..... How Skye had got on the dual carriageway in the first place - she lived in about 9 miles away on the opposite side of the dual carriageway. Dont see how she could have found her way that far and avoided getting hit by a car from how I saw her behave on the dual carriageway. Maybe she jumped, or fell, off the back of one of these open trucks that farmers seem to drive around here. I dont know. All I do know, is that Skye is still at the pound. And my faith in farmers in general is still at an all time low..... but Ill say it one more time and highlight it so I dont get nasty comments as I did when I posted about the sheep: *Im certain farmers that care about their animals DO exist, I just havent encountered any*.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 12:56:49 +0000
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