I always feel horrible when I hit something. I have hit deer and cats and birds. I always feel horrible. One night I had to cancel all my plans and just go home after I completely flattened a cat. I was one my way to a birthday party. I had to send my regrets and drop the gift off later, because I was so shaken up by it.

They really do come out of nowhere...especially at night, when you are driving 55mph and they are running in at an angle outside your periphery vision.

It would be hard to notify the owners without a collar. I imagine you have already notified the police with respect to an accident report for insurance purposes. You could make a few phone calls, notify the local animal shelter that you give a description of the dog and the location. If someone is looking for their dog, they may contact those places and you will have at least provided the information.

Please don't beat yourself up so badly over this- that is why they are called accidents.
I find it commendable that you went back to search for the animal. You must have been terribly shook up from the whole incident so going back just kept the whole incident in the forefront of your mind.
Move on and know that it wasn't your fault and you would have done everything possible to avoid the situation- sometimes things just happen.It is unfortunate that the dog was wandering in the dark like that but you cannot blame yourself.

It happened once to me, too. I felt awful because I know the dog was injured (fur / blood on my bumper), but it ran off into the night, and I was not able to track it down. Hopefully the dog you hit did not suffer, and I agree with the others that there was nothing you could have done to avoid it; sometimes accidents happen despite our efforts to drive safely.

It was not your fault. It was the owners for letting the dog run loose with no collar. Don't beat yourself up altho I know how you must feel. I have never killed anything on the road but that's been luck.

I know you feel it was your fault, and you will for awhile, but you need to know ALL OF THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DAMAGE TO YOUR CAR AND THE DEATH OF THIS WONDERFUL DOG LIES WITH THE OWNER OF THE DOG. No ifs ands or buts about it. It is a shame this had to happen, and look at the ripple effect of this persons carelessness. Victimizing the dog, and you, and causing you some pretty serious emotional anguish. So easily prevented....If you really want to put out the energy to try and find the owner of the dog, I would put up fliers. Asking about a lost German Shepherd. It is possible it was a dumping of the dog and you will never find the owner, and it is possible that the dog may have escaped from its owner who was travelling through the area...You may never know the circumstances. Hope you dont have too much trouble with your insurance, Im sorry you have to experience such a traumatic event.

Aw, gee. It feels awful, I know. I hit a cat a few years ago on a residential street in a gated community. It was night and I was going about 20 miles and hour so I would have seen it if it had been in the street but it must have walked right out under my car just as I passed it because I saw nothing. Just felt the bump.

So sorry.

the same light brown color as a deer.

I can't tell you how many people I know that hit dogs thinking it was a German Shepherd and in reality it was a coy or coyote. GSD's rarely have a deer color coat,of course if it was a GSD mix that would be different. But at night near a freeway and no collar I wouldn't be suprised if it was a coy/coyote. Did you call your local AC officer? Sometimes they can tell.
Anyway so sorry for the awful experience.

As awful as you feel, it's an accident. It was largely preventable, by not allowing him/her to run loose.

It's very fortunate that in avoiding hitting other critters, your haven's swerved into another driver's path. That would cause a whole lot of misery, too.

Fortunate, too, that you don't feel the need to recoup the damages on your vehicle. I've known folks who couldn't afford to absorb the damage to their car in a similar situation.

I simply don't drive at night.

"ALL OF THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DAMAGE TO YOUR CAR AND THE DEATH OF THIS WONDERFUL DOG LIES WITH THE OWNER OF THE DOG. "

i don't agree with that in all cases. some kid could have opened a gate, the dog could have jumped/climbed/dug under a fence to chasse a rabbit, all sorts of reasons. the ONLY way to guarantee a dog will never get out is to lock them in a cage with a concrete floor and a roof. if you are going to do this, you don't need to have a pet.

many/most times it IS the owners fault, but not always.

i agree with the other poster, good chance this is a coyote. i usually kill a couple a year myself. they have been getting brave around here, i had 2 stare me down last summer in my back yard. i was walking my dog before bed and the light hit their eyes. we all froze and just stared, i did not want to turn and back away, due to they will attack in some cases. i now tote a pistol when out side at night, and when safe i dispatch them on sight.

I agree, as a kid I used to let the dogs in my area run free, I thought it was good for them because the looked sad and wanted to play, I remember giving them fish I had caught out of a lake, Hay I was Autistic!, no buddy told me a dog shouldn't run free at 8 years old!

Don't blame yourself not your fault not your problem, its the neighbors issue, or could have been a stray owned by no buddy, one thing you should know though is dead animals of all types often end up used as pet food, If I found a cat/dog I would either leave it after hiding it in some bushes or take it home and bury it, the city puts pets into pet food!

Well, I've never hit anything furry that wasn't already dead, but I did run over a baby alligator about 6 months ago. I felt bad at first, but I knew it wasn't anyone's pet, and I certainly didn't do it on purpose. If I wouldn't have crashed into someone else, I'd have swerved.

Just wanted to say that you didn't do it on purpose and you shouldn't feel bad! The funny thing is that people who DO mean things to animals on purpose DON'T feel bad, and the ones who have accidents that aren't their fault DO feel bad. Sorry that happened, it must be unsettling!

Just be glad nothing happened to you or another human!

The dog could have been a stray... if it had owners, it should have been wearing a coller.

We don't keep collars on our dogs since they can be rather dangerous on large dogs when they play. They have been microchipped. Are the police able to see if there is a chip on the animal? I wonder.

I hated that you were justifying so much what happened as if it could be your fault. Again, it wasn't. But I am rather concerned about your swerving to avoid animals. You always look first, don't you?

Sammy

I'm sorry to hear about what happened. Very scary and sad.

As hard as you describe the impact being, it may well have passed on immediately without suffering. Let's hope so.

Please don't blame yourself. Find something to keep you busy so you won't dwell so much on what happened.

I send good thoughts your way.