A Preventable Tragedy

When I was about 8 years old, my dad brought home  a beautiful white and red fox terrier mix (pictured here). A colleague at work couldn't keep her anymore, so my dad offered to take her. I had always wanted a dog and I was over the moon when he brought her home. We named her Samantha, Sam for short, after the lead character (played by the late Elizabeth Montgomery) on a popular television series called Bewitched. She wasn't well trained, but back then, not a lot of time (or money) was spent on things like that. Nevertheless, I loved her. She was a great companion and followed me everywhere.

​I remember one time, when I was cleaning my room, Sam came to show me a long legged spider that she was holding by one of it's legs. Being scared of spiders, I ran and she proceeded to run after me with the spider dangling out of her mouth.

​Then one day, I went across the street to see my friend who was playing in her front yard. I was 10 at the time. It was a beautiful sunny day. Suddenly I saw the screen door open and there was Sam running towards me. Unfortunately the timing couldn't have been worse. A car was coming down the street at the same time as Sam headed across the road. The car didn't have any chance of stopping in time. It hit her full on and she died almost instantly. I was devastated.

​Now that the warmer weather is here, you might be thinking of leaving your front door open so that the screen door can let some fresh air into your home. If you do, please be sure to lock the screen door. That is how Sam got out. It was one of those fluke accidents. She stood up at the door, her paw hit the handle, and her weight opened the door far enough for her to escape.

​The best way to prevent tragedies like this is to plan for the unexpected. If I had only known that back then...

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