i still miss him every moment of the day
when it all ended, i had so many unanswered questions. i wanted to know everything. and i still do. how did he get out? what did he do in the six hours prior to getting hit? which route did he take? how is it no one would have seen him in this densely populated neighborhood we live in? were we so close to reaching him, yet somehow missed him? exactly where on the freeway was he hit? how hard was he hit?
the next day, i got into work and was absentmindedly clicking around on the internet looking at doggy pictures, when i chanced upon a posting titled "hit and run" and realized that the guy was talking about our dog. turns out it was shad, the guy who had rescued gyoza, who posted a hit and run plea on craigslist.
HIT AND RUN (mountain view)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: comm-437034264@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-10-01, 9:59AM PDT
We're looking for information on the driver of a black SUV that hit a dog and kept driving. We were travelling 101 North through Mountain View when we saw commotion up ahead. We slowed down to see a small dog loose on the highway, frightened and running towards traffic. I got out of our car and went after him. He was running up the entrance ramp coming off of 85 when he was hit by the SUV. It was clearly an accident, yet the driver never slowed. I didn't have time to get the license plate number because the little dog was still moving and urgently needed to be removed from the road before another vehicle hit him.
There was a lot of traffic, so I'm hoping someone else got this creep's license plate number.
We took the little dog to a 24-hour animal hospital. In addition to a fractured hip and numerous broken ribs, he appeared to have a spinal cord injury. One of the vet techs found a missing dog ad for him here on craigslist and contacted the owners, who drove over immediately. They told us his name was Gyoza, which is Japanese for "dumpling."
Unfortunately, his injuries proved too critical.
The driver who hit this little dog is responsible for his death. As I said, it appeared as though this was an accident but this driver did not stop. Wherever he was headed, it must have been important to him. But how could it have been more important than someone's life?
We're all in this world together. All of us, people and animals. We rely on each other for our continued survival. Honestly, is it asking too much to expect a little compassion?
Please. If you have any information on this hit and run driver, let us know.
Thank you.
it opened a huge floodgate as i read about how gyoza was running around, frightful and miserable. he is a very timid dog. he trembles when hes scared, and pees when he is extremely frightened. i can only imagine his fear alone and lost on the busiest freeway in the bay area. and to be hit by an SUV? even a human would not have walked away unscathed... much less a 15lb dog. i had to run downstairs to cry.
(later, some people would respond saying that there was no blame to be had on the driver. dogs should be kept away etc etc. and i have to say i agree. he was my responsibility, and as sad as i am about what happened, i would have felt the same way they felt about dogs running loose on busy roads.)
i emailed shad to say thank you. i also asked if gyoza whimpered or yelped. shad told me that:-
"Gyoza did not whimper on the drive to the hospital. He appeared to be in shock, though coherent to some degree. I was holding him and Kristin was driving. He did clearly look at her and look around. A few times, he started to move his front legs and his breathing became heavy. We both tried to comfort him as much as possible. Since he never whimpered, I think the shock kept him from feeling any pain."
i would like to imagine so, but i know gyoza. he never cries even when hurt or in pain. he just kept it all inside. i know he was just hiding it all. kristin also wrote me after, tell me to take heart that my presence was of great comfort to him. i pray that that is true. i really do.
thank you for all your kind notes. in some way this was a lot harder on us because as much as we adore animals and whole-heartedly love gyoza, we arent your animal activist, crazed 1000% pro-animal people. we didnt expect to have these feelings for our dog when we first got him. yet gyoza somehow stole our hearts and made us feel emotions we never knew we had for an animal. the intensity of it all makes it just that much harder to bear.
heres a beautiful picture of gyoza to share, taken just days after we had adopted him, had him groomed (for the first time in his life!) and smelling good. it would also have been the first and only time gyoza came to work with me.
isnt he adorable?
the next day, i got into work and was absentmindedly clicking around on the internet looking at doggy pictures, when i chanced upon a posting titled "hit and run" and realized that the guy was talking about our dog. turns out it was shad, the guy who had rescued gyoza, who posted a hit and run plea on craigslist.
HIT AND RUN (mountain view)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: comm-437034264@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-10-01, 9:59AM PDT
We're looking for information on the driver of a black SUV that hit a dog and kept driving. We were travelling 101 North through Mountain View when we saw commotion up ahead. We slowed down to see a small dog loose on the highway, frightened and running towards traffic. I got out of our car and went after him. He was running up the entrance ramp coming off of 85 when he was hit by the SUV. It was clearly an accident, yet the driver never slowed. I didn't have time to get the license plate number because the little dog was still moving and urgently needed to be removed from the road before another vehicle hit him.
There was a lot of traffic, so I'm hoping someone else got this creep's license plate number.
We took the little dog to a 24-hour animal hospital. In addition to a fractured hip and numerous broken ribs, he appeared to have a spinal cord injury. One of the vet techs found a missing dog ad for him here on craigslist and contacted the owners, who drove over immediately. They told us his name was Gyoza, which is Japanese for "dumpling."
Unfortunately, his injuries proved too critical.
The driver who hit this little dog is responsible for his death. As I said, it appeared as though this was an accident but this driver did not stop. Wherever he was headed, it must have been important to him. But how could it have been more important than someone's life?
We're all in this world together. All of us, people and animals. We rely on each other for our continued survival. Honestly, is it asking too much to expect a little compassion?
Please. If you have any information on this hit and run driver, let us know.
Thank you.
it opened a huge floodgate as i read about how gyoza was running around, frightful and miserable. he is a very timid dog. he trembles when hes scared, and pees when he is extremely frightened. i can only imagine his fear alone and lost on the busiest freeway in the bay area. and to be hit by an SUV? even a human would not have walked away unscathed... much less a 15lb dog. i had to run downstairs to cry.
(later, some people would respond saying that there was no blame to be had on the driver. dogs should be kept away etc etc. and i have to say i agree. he was my responsibility, and as sad as i am about what happened, i would have felt the same way they felt about dogs running loose on busy roads.)
i emailed shad to say thank you. i also asked if gyoza whimpered or yelped. shad told me that:-
"Gyoza did not whimper on the drive to the hospital. He appeared to be in shock, though coherent to some degree. I was holding him and Kristin was driving. He did clearly look at her and look around. A few times, he started to move his front legs and his breathing became heavy. We both tried to comfort him as much as possible. Since he never whimpered, I think the shock kept him from feeling any pain."
i would like to imagine so, but i know gyoza. he never cries even when hurt or in pain. he just kept it all inside. i know he was just hiding it all. kristin also wrote me after, tell me to take heart that my presence was of great comfort to him. i pray that that is true. i really do.
thank you for all your kind notes. in some way this was a lot harder on us because as much as we adore animals and whole-heartedly love gyoza, we arent your animal activist, crazed 1000% pro-animal people. we didnt expect to have these feelings for our dog when we first got him. yet gyoza somehow stole our hearts and made us feel emotions we never knew we had for an animal. the intensity of it all makes it just that much harder to bear.
heres a beautiful picture of gyoza to share, taken just days after we had adopted him, had him groomed (for the first time in his life!) and smelling good. it would also have been the first and only time gyoza came to work with me.
isnt he adorable?