My SIL left her dog with us until she finds an apartment that will allow her to have the dog. Travis just informed me that she shot out of our door and got hit. Usually we have her on a leash when we go outside because she likes to wander but we did not have a chance to get one on her this time. It happened so fast. What do I tell her? I know I have to tell her its just I dont know how right now. I was kinda attached to the little turd to. oiy... bad start to the day!
BTW no body opened the door. He was taking out trash and our screen door does not latch. If you push on it with a baby toe it will open. She just nudged her way out. Our weim does it almost daily but he has an underground fence so its no big deal.
Travis called her and she does understand that this was an accident. She knows we would never have hurt the dog and knows that we tried to get her to a vet. We did offer a replacement or money to purchase what she wanted. She did decline this for now.
Thank you to those of you who understood that this was hard on us as well as the owner. We have known this dog for some time and never had a problem with her at the house before.
If Travis was the one by the door, the one who allowed the dog to get out and it's his sister's dog, then it's his responsibility to tell her what happened.
I'm so sorry. I do not get why some people are saying it was not an accident. YES IT WAS! If it was not done on purpose than it is an accident. Anyway, I do agree that Travis should tell her and apologize for the accident.
Oh, that is so hard!
I think that all you can do it tell the truth. It was a horrible accident and you are so sorry. Hopefully she is a rational person, she may be very upset, but will understand that these thing unfortunately happen.
We had a neighbor that had a husky (like ours) that used to get out. One morning I found her in the street. Here I was eight months pregnant, stopping traffic to pick up this 50 lb dog. I scooped her up and banged on their door...no one answered. So I yelled to my husband, who was in the shower, that she had been hit.
He throws on some jeans and we loaded her up in the car and took her to our vet up the street. I bang on the door (stupid because they were open already) and this lady comes out and looks at me like I am crazy. To be fair here was this very pregnant woman with no shoes (I lost one in the street) a man who had no shirt and no shoes banging on an unlocked door.
Anyway, it was too late to save her and she died right in front of us. It was horrid. I pulled a muscle in my groin and stayed home from work. The neighbor came home and I had to be the one to tell him. Not fun.
I'm sorry that this happened. I'm sorry for the both of you!
I'm so sorry. You'll have to call your sister-in-law and tell her exactly what happened. Expect her to get emotional. *Don't* make excuses.
This happened to us. We took care of a very small dog who belonged to some dear friends. The dog was so happy and so obedient that he didn't even need a leash outside (so the owners told us - and they believed it!) - until he dashed away and out of sight from my husband one evening. My daughter and I searched the neighborhood for two cold hours that night, until we found the dog's body in the middle of a road. The next day I had to call my friends, who were out of town, and I had to listen to them cry. I cried too, because, even though no one ever expected this dog to take off like that, he *was* my responsibility at the time and I felt terrible about the whole thing. We should have kept him on leash no matter how trustworthy he seemed.
You could offer to help financially if your SIL decides to get another dog. Keep the offer open for a while if she needs to grieve (and finds her dog-friendly apartment) first.
When I was about 6, I was playing with my neighbor friend and our dog got out, ran crazy down the street and I SAW him get hit...I'm 45 and still remember running down the middle of the street home screaming at my mom that Corky had been hit. UGH.
I agree that your husband needs to tell her. It was not an "accident" as you admit that you know the screen door can easily be opened because your own dog does it "almost daily". So I would offer to have her find a dog as a replacement and pay for it (within reason). Good luck.
I'm sorry. At least your boyfriend's sister knows and seems understanding. I would still put aside money for the future when she does decide to take you up on the offer of buying a new dog. If she ever does ask, you shouldn't fall back on saying that "she said she didn't want us to get her a new dog!"
And maybe, just maybe, you should either replace that door or get a latch for it so that something like that doesn't happen again.
So, looks like Travis needs to tell her, apologize profusely for being negligent and offer to buy her a replacement.
I mean, really, what other options are there?
He opened the door. She got out and was hit by a car.
Ditto the others: Travis needs to tell her what happened.
It isn't like she "got out" of a closed door. A screen door that doesn't latch and can be pushed open by a baby toe isn't a secured environment.
Not trying to make you feel bad, or worse. But that is the reality. I presume that normally you have the actual door shut. But it was not at that time and so she was not secured by a proper door. I can SO see how it could happen, and it is very sad and no one is really to blame. But it isn't like she busted a door down to get out, either. So be careful how he explains it. You don't want to appear to be dodging blame or facts or make it appear that the dog was at fault. It was a known issue, because you said your own dog does this almost daily. You had no backup safety for the SIL's dog and something terrible happened.
Just apologize profusely and hopefully your SIL will be understanding.
He is sorry, the dog got out while he was taking the trash out.
Sorry.
I'm sorry this happened. Accidents usually do happen fast but this is one you both should have seen coming with your broken screen and your own dog doing it daily. I worked in emergency veterinary medicine for long enough to see too many tragic situations. Please, please fix your door.
