The truck in front of me had noticed also, as had applied breaks a couple times when the dog got close to the curb and was absolutely obeying the speed limit. This pet mom, taking her fur kid for a nice walk and enjoying her day; this young person going about her morning, before heading in to work; my heading over to scan a dog on my way home to see my son. It ALL suddenly changed.

The Husky saw something across the street. I presume after the fact, that it was a stray cat that was hanging out playing in the parking lot. The dog BOLTED in front of the truck. The person clearly had the extremely long leash on “free wheel” with no control. Almost immediately it was too late.

The young person in the truck hit the dog, the retractable leash got caught just right that the dog got hung up on the bumper and in the wheel and it became a speed bump a few times, as it was wrapped up. The pup ended up wedged on top of the tire IN the wheel well, still on the entangled leash.

I stopped to see if I could help and offer transport to the hospital if needed, other’s pauses and drove on, many honked in frustration and drove by. The dog owner is yelling at the young driver. The young driver is in absolute hysterics, this was her “first accident”. Young driver called dad, hysterical, because of this. You could HEAR his panic on the phone, because she wasn’t communicating well. I told dad she was ok, where we were and he was on his way.

If the dog had actually survived this, it would probably have been hung, as the leash was tight and trapped. Unfortunately, the leash was just strong/ small/ tightly wound enough to partially decapitate the dog. I hope that it was a swift end.

As I went to pull supplies to cut the dog leash and attempt to free the dog, I noted- I do not have a big enough knife in my rescue bag. This will be added. This stupid retractable leash was caught and twisted up in the truck, the dog was immediately killed and was stuck.

IF this owner had their dog on an appropriate leash, this tragically sad thing would never have occurred. There is absolutely NO good reason to have any pet on a retractable leash.

I helped by finally freeing the dog, with the help of a wonderful guy with the bigger knife. We wrapped the Husky in bags and rags and loaded it in my car to take the owner and it’s body home, as she wouldn’t have been able to carry it home.

My request———- In memory of pets and people injured by these trash leashes…. PLEASE throw yours in the trash, right now and purchase a good sturdy leash. Even better, one with the “city walker” extra handle.

My heart is sad. I feel for the dog, I feel for the young driver, I feel for the owner because she “thought” it was a good leash. Sigh. Sometimes helping just SUCKS. 💔