Chevy

[quavec]

Please light a candle for a wonderful big hearted boy. Chevy was hit by a car today. He made it to our front yard and laid himself by the flagpole. I didn't see what happened. Only heard the other dogs barking up a storm. I thought he was catching some rays in our yard. He loves to do that. I saw he wasn't breathing right and foaming. I ran to my neighbor Wayne and woke him up. He came out and sat with Chevy and talked to him until he took his last breath. I was trying to hunt down the owners.

Chevy was a mutt but was pure heart. He loved kids and was so gentle with them and even mean old Cricket. I keep thinking of things we could have done. Things we didn't do and wish I could just rewind to about 630am this morning when he escorted my daughter to the bus. We were always sending him back to his yard, but the big goof was afraid he'd miss the action on our street.

Light a candle for him please. I know he's heading to the bridge to chase cars and look down on us to make sure the kids get on the bus.

I wish you had been mine, Chevy.

[Tex]

RIP Chevy :candle2: .

:sosad: his family didn't keep him safe......

[areese]

O geezus, that breaks my heart.
Safe journey, Chevy. :candle3:
damn f-ing owners that can't keep a dog safe in their yard...

[lotsadox]

That is so sad, Carrol. I'll definitely :candle3: for poor Chevy.

[Kasianni]

Poor Chevy..so very sad, will say a :pray: and :candle2: for the poor dog..

[Patt]

:sosad: I'm glad Wayne was with him during his last few breaths. A :candle3: is lit in CA for Chevy. :pray:

[LUVMYGUNNER]

RIP big guy.:candle:

[michelehbc]

:candle3:

Maybe I am in a delicate emotional state right now, but that just made me weep!

Run to the bridge, Chevy, there are lots of kids who need to be escorted onto school busses, licked, and played with!

[oceangirls]

I'm so sorry, Carrol! :sad2:

:candle: for that big sweet guy.

[LexieLuvr]

Awwww, that's so sad - that's why owners need to keep their dogs in fences! Poor guy. :pray: :angel7: (Pretend this is a candle icon - i)

[quavec]

Wayne just buried him in the owner's yard - I know some of you may think that's gross, but that's the way they do things out here. He took his collar off of him to give to them. He's a good guy - my neighbor. He keeps reassuring me that a trip to the vet would have been useless - even if we could have loaded him into my car without hurting him more, by the time I found him and the time he slipped away, it was barely 20 minutes.

My heart is just breaking for him. Cricket won't leave my side. He knows. The hound dogs across the street were howling a sad song for him.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

I did kinda wonder if taking him to a vet would have helped.:sosad:

[jenfer]

RIP, Chevy. :candle:

[quavec]

I did kinda wonder if taking him to a vet would have helped.:sosad:

I'm still questioning my indecision. Maybe I hesitated to long, you know? I didn't hear anything, just looked outside when my son pointed him out. He was sitting up then. Kind of panting, no blood. Then I noticed he wasn't panting but more like heaving. I went outside and called his name. That's when he slumped over and rolled against the landscape stones. I walked to him calling his name, his tail didn't wag and his eyes rolled back. I ran to Wayne's house and woke him up. He walked over and said "he's been hit". By then Chevy was barely breathing. I was on the phone with DH crying and Wayne was talking to Chevy. Then I called the owner's cell number and got voicemail. I don't know what I said. I asked Wayne if he'd help me put him in the car and he just said "no, it won't do any good. He's going to fast." I might have wasted a good 5 minutes deciding to get Wayne and calling Chevy's name. Then another 5 waiting for Wayne to come to the door - he was still sleeping. Then a good 10 minutes calling DH and the owner's. DH left the house at 7am. The hounds started their racket about 7:15. I finally got up when Cricket started howling - it was too eery of a sound. That was around 7:20 I guess. Wayne stood up and told me he was gone at 7:45 or so.

After he buried him, he came over and told me that there was a small amount of blood on the grass. I might want to hose it down because of the flies. I couldn't see it. Wayne says it was from his ear. He thinks he either had a head injury or internal bleeding.

God, it's so freaking sad.

[Kasianni]

Wayne just buried him in the owner's yard - I know some of you may think that's gross, but that's the way they do things out here.


Nope, I do not think it is gross. When my cats were put to sleep at the vets, (due to cancer and old age) I left but then I went back to get them because I could not imagine what would happen to their bodies, there and how they would be treated. I brought them to the family cottage and buried them there.

I am so so sorry you went through this today, its terribly sad. Please do not question your decision, and please do not go over and over it in your head, moving him might have done more damage than good and if Chevy went that fast I am sure the vet could not have done anything for him. He was not alone when he passed he was with people that cared.

[HotDogMama]

I'm sorry Carrol, please don't beat yourself up over it :bighug: I'll light a candle for Mr. Chevy, and just remember you were a good friend to him. He was lucky to have you, and even mean ol Cricket :)

[LexieLuvr]

ITA - you did all you could in the time you had - we are good at second guessing ourselves in situations like this. It does sound like a head injury - please don't be so hard on yourself! He didn't die on the side of the road, all alone in the dirt, and that's a very good thing! And where we live, a lot of pets are buried in the owner's yard, too. We were going to do that with my last furguy, but then decided on cremation.

[Patt]

Carrol I feel so badly for you. :hug99: :hug99: From the way you describe everything, I truly think Wayne is right. In that amount of time, even if you had gotten him to the vets, he would have probably passed before any treatment could have been started. Please don't beat yourself up and play the "what if" game. I'm sure Chevy knows you all did you could, there just wasn't enough time. Chevy was lucky to have had you and Wayne with him. :pray: :pray: :bighug:

We have pets buried on our property but, have since discovered there is a huge fine for doing this.

[Otto'sMom]

:sosad: You couldn't prevent his death Carol, his owners could have, but not you. I always have a soft spot for those dogs who try to live like cats with 9 lives. Poor feller, he'll remember you for your love in his last moments.

[Linus]

Oh this just breaks my heart. I will say a :pray: for Chevy.

[Frzframe]

:hug99: :hug99: Oh man, this is awful but I agree you did the right thing by having someone with him that he knew and liked. He wasn't alone and that's the thing to remember. :hug99: :hug99:

[Rae]

that sucks. That Chevy, he was a wild man and went out on his own terms.
i am so sorry it happened- have heard Chevy stories for a while now and he sure did have a big heart. Dosha will be crushed when she gets home from school, and I am sorry you and JohnJohn had to deal with it.

Glad however that Wayne was there to help you and help Chevy. No one should have to die alone.

Godspeed, dear Chevy. you were a good, good boy.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

You did the best you could. At least he did get decent burial.

[K2]

This is just :sosad: Please do not beat yourself up about this. :hug99: Chevy will remember where he chose to spend his final moments and who was with him in those final moments. :hug99: :thankyou: for being there for him. Run free, big guy!! :hearts: :angel7:

[Tanya]

That's so sad Carrol! RIP Chevy!

[catstamm]

That is sooo sooo sad...Good Lord WHY do people let their dogs run loose..
God's speed sweet Chevy...you will be the guardian angel for the kids getting on the bus :hearts:

[Otto'sMom]

Something that just gets me~Chevy has had 3 pages of us mourning his needless loss, I wonder if his family cared as much about their own dog as we do. If they had, we wouldn't be having our hearts broken at the very thought of what Carol had to go through this morning.
/sorry if I'm heartless towards his owners, but DANG IT, it didn't have to happen.

[quavec]

Not to drag this sad mess out, but I thought I'd let you know that I told my kids about Chevy yesterday. I waited until my daughter came home. It's so much easier to explain things once.

My daughter took it hard. She kept asking why? I was honest and told her that this was why I am so hard on them when they leave the front door open and Cricket gets out. This is what I worry about.

I hardly went outside at all yesterday. I IM'd with Ms. Rice ;) and after a few minutes, I got my lazy butt up and did some yard work.

I am glad I was home. I'm glad I am no longer working and was here for him. I'm glad my neighbor was home and is such a huge animal lover. We have a huge ditch across the street from us. It's a good 3 feet deep. I'm so glad that Chevy wasn't in that ditch, covered in mud and filth. It's possible we would have never seen him. Only worried and wondered where he was. Maybe the warmth of those stones helped ease his pain. Maybe seeing Wayne and me with him and hearing our voices helped him cross to the bridge.

I went to my daughter's class room today to put together some rockets. She, being the talker that she is, had told her classmates about Chevy. When I got there, they were full of 4th grade curiosity - a tad morbid, but kidlike curiosity. I used that as a chance to tell them that they should never allow their animals to roam free like Chevy did. I also threw in the fact that Chevy was not neutered and that might have given him a bigger urge to wander. Of course, some didn't know what neuter meant, and I volleyed that to the teacher or told them to ask their parents ;).

Thanks for all the candles for Chevy. I think we felt his spirit this morning as my daughter got on the bus. :angel7:

[Alex's Mom]

Sorry I'm so late coming to this, Carrol...I'm :candle2: for poor Chevy and may his careless unthinking owner rot in hell. Please don't secondguess yourself on this...from the sounds of it there wasn't much that could have been done for the poor guy. That he was surrounded by love when he crossed was the important thing. :hug99::hug99: