I had gone
out for dinner with my friend
Courtney. I got home around 9pm and my roommate
Holly asked if I wanted to take
Abby (our
dog) for a walk as I walked in. I said to
give me a few minutes first and then I would.
After checking email etc we left with Abby at around 9:30pm. We walked down Hunter and then South on Queen St, as we almost always did.
At Charlton, another dog came in front of us, fairly big dog, but it's owner was walking quite slowly. We crossed to the other side of Queen St. As we got to the other side and just walked onto onto the sidewalk after an intersection, the leash slipped out of Holly's hand somehow. Holly took a few steps ahead, as Holly tried to step on the end of the leash and I called her name. She never did listen, especially when she knew she might be able to run. She ran about 10 feet in front of us, and then turned diagonally across the street, in the direction of the other dog.
There seemed to be a lot of traffic all of a sudden, and she was hit by a Northbound car.
As she started to run across the street, I was thinking, 'wow the odds aren't very good, but she'll make it across and bark at the other dog and when we get her back Holly's going to yell at her.'
I didn't see the actual impact. I'm not sure if I turned away, or there may have been a telephone pole in the way. I definitely heard the sound. Holly had yelled Abby's name increasingly loudly as she crossed the street and again just before impact. As she was hit, Holly squatted down on the sidewalk immediately.
I don't think I had fully comprehended what had happened, but I knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. I think at that point I assumed she had died. Holly stayed down for a second and then ran out into the street. The distance between where the car had stopped and where Abby was seemed huge, I would guess about 25 feet or so, but it's hard to remember. There were a few cars stopped in both directions. Holly was over Abby crying.
Holly said later that the car that hit her drove past us and away at this point. I have a very vague recollection of a car going past just as I got to Abby, but I'm not sure. I didn't pay attention to the cars in that direction. A couple that had been headed in the other direction got out of their car with a towel. They said to drive her to a veterinarian, Holly said that we didn't have a car and they said they'd drive us.
I picked up Abby and got into the backseat of the car. We told them to go to Dundurn and King, as I thought Holly meant the Blue Cross. I couldn't think straight when they asked me where it was. I said King and Dundurn, then thought I was wrong and paused, and then said it about 3 times over again. Abby didn't seem to be breathing in the car from what I could tell, but I think I saw her mouth move once or twice on the way there. The girl in the front just kept asking questions about strange things and I kept answering her but wishing she'd shut up. When we got to that intersection, Holly realized it was the wrong one and that it was at about King and Locke.
We got to the clinic and I walked in and put her on the table. There was a nurse there, but Holly said that she was a vet tech and that she had stopped breathing. The nurse had a stethoscope and confirmed that.
After a little bit, Holly turned and walked into the front to thank the people that had given us the ride. I shook the man's hand and said something about him doing good driving on the way there. He couldn't speak. He just looked at me as if he wanted to do more for us but didn't know what to do or couldn't. I just kept trying to smile and saying thank you. He just kept staring back. He finally made a steering wheel motion with his hands, asking us if we wanted a ride home or anything else. I said no, that we lived close by. He kept standing there, and wiped tears from his eyes. Still with the same look as before. I had to turn away and go back into the room because I didn't know what to say.
We stood in the room with Abby for a while. The nurse had gotten a form. Holly and I just sort of stood there. We said a few things about something, but I don't know what it was. Holly asked the nurse about picking her up the next day for burial, and called her parents.
I didn't know what to say or seem to have anything to say. Holly was crying and I almost felt guilty for not. I was sad, but also completely dumbfounded.
We left there and walked to Megan and Amanda's. They didn't answer their doorbell, and we tried to call them from the gas station. I dialed 519 in front of their number at first because I was just so out of it. They didn't answer when I finally did get it right.
I wanted to go back to try to her leash and collar. Somehow she didn't have them on when I had picked her up. We walked back down Queen, but couldn't find it. I did see a glasses case, with glasses inside beside a hedge. They had been on the road I believe underneath Abby when I picked her up. I don't know how or why that would have happened.