"It is still alive"

[Jivattatva]

It was a bad sight. This morning I was driving at 100 km/hr on the highway when in my lane I saw 2 dead birds or so I thought. Actually I saw that one was still alive as I came near it. All I can say was "it's still alive" because I saw that one wing was flapping. In a split second decision I swerved my car to prevent running over the poor bird.

It's a bad sight but I guess it's part of the realities living in this world.

[Sarah_]

Sometimes when something dies, their nerves all go crazy and their body moves around even though they are not alive. It's hard to tell. Sorry that this happened and that you had to witness it.

[Pammy]

Let me tell you what happened to me one day. I was driving home and came to a stop light. In the middle of the intersection there was a small black cat - dead - obviously hit by a car. I sat there at the light thinking about this poor cat and how it didn't have anyone to love it or give it a good home. I was very sad to see it die like that. A tear trickled down my cheek. The light turned green and as I made the turn I looked down at this poor innocent creature. And there it lay. a SMALL BLACK CANVASS BAG!! i HAD BEEN CRYING OVER A CANVASS BAG!! I guess that explains why art was never my best subject - I have no sense of perspective whatsoever! I was driving down the same rural road one day and saw what I thought was a dead cow at the side of the road. As I came up to it I realized it was a pile of old carpet! It did look like a cow from a distance though! Hahahaha!

[RainInStarlight]

Let me tell you what happened to me one day. I was driving home and came to a stop light. In the middle of the intersection there was a small black cat - dead - obviously hit by a car. I sat there at the light thinking about this poor cat and how it didn't have anyone to love it or give it a good home. I was very sad to see it die like that. A tear trickled down my cheek. The light turned green and as I made the turn I looked down at this poor innocent creature. And there it lay. a SMALL BLACK CANVASS BAG!! i HAD BEEN CRYING OVER A CANVASS BAG!! I guess that explains why art was never my best subject - I have no sense of perspective whatsoever! I was driving down the same rural road one day and saw what I thought was a dead cow at the side of the road. As I came up to it I realized it was a pile of old carpet! It did look like a cow from a distance though! Hahahaha!

...At least you had the compassion in your heart to actually care that much, though. Many humans wouldn't have even noticed.

[Clueless Git]

Sometimes when something dies, their nerves all go crazy and their body moves around even though they are not alive.

This is true ..

I used to be taken to a local slaughterhouse as a 'treat' when I was quite young.

Even after the animals were dead enough to be being skinned sometimes the bodies were still doing what looked peculiarly like a stilted Irish jig.

[aye]

Part of me feels perhaps a mercy killing could have been another option, I cant stand to think of anything in pain or distress, when theyre obviously dying (but its prolonged) sometimes its humane also to make it quick and as painless as possible. I guess its an ethical dilemma and other people may think differently.
Re the slaughterhouses, I've seen some awful footage where the slaughter house 'worker' swears blind that the animal is dead and the nerves are causing twitches but it actually jumps up an tries to get away. Horrific to think of the horror these wonderful creatures suffer at the hands of man

[Andy_T]

This is true ..

I used to be taken to a local slaughterhouse as a 'treat' when I was quite young.

Even after the animals were dead enough to be being skinned sometimes the bodies were still doing what looked peculiarly like a stilted Irish jig.

That, however, can also be the case because the animals might have been stunned or half-stunned but not dead yet.
Unfortunately it happens very often that animals that are still alive are already skinned and dismembered.

Best regards,
Andy

[sandra]

What a horrible, horrible thought................what are human beings like? That is so sad.

[ElleV108]

This is ironic that this came up on the "what's new" today to me.. Just last night I had a dream(okay nightmare) about finding a cat on the side the road.. that was barely alive ...and I woke up thinking what could I do if this really happened? I unfortunately(?) have only seen completely dead animals on the road...And it seems like lately there are a lot more than normal. So this brings me to the question..

Has anyone been able to rescue an animal they saw hit by a car? What happened?

[victoriangirl]

Sadly seeing dead animals (usually cats, dogs or birds) on the roads of Istanbul is quite frequent and as people here put it 'normal'. I personally do not think anything like that can ever be normal-it shouldn't be normal.

I once saw a kitten being run over by a car just 1 meter away from me. It was such a horrible sight. The poor kitten's back legs/hips were all flattened down but she was able to crawl away into a garden. I ran back home, got a box & a blanket and went back to catch the kitten. (I knew her only other humane option was being put to sleep) Sadly she was so extremely scared that in my attempt to catch her, she went hiding under a makeshift house where I could not get her out of. I had to leave her there, to die slowly. This whole incident still haunts me every day.

The same happened last year again, this time I was with my sister and a young cat's leg/hip was run over. But together with my sister we were able to act real quick and were able to catch the cat. She had a huge operation and it took her weeks to recover. We than found her a nice home with a huge garden. Last time I saw her, she was doing really well.

To me it is so sad that most of these animals never had a good life in the first place and that they have to be all alone in their final moments. I don't have trouble with death itself, it is about the suffering and having a bad life.

[Crusty Rat]

Since this thread needs a positive post:

My friend saw a cat playing with something in the middle of the road, went over and found it was an infant wild rabbit. He scooped the baby bunny up, jumped in his car and zoomed off to a reputable animal shelter nearby. They took care of the bunny and she made a full recovery!

[AaronM]

Has anyone been able to rescue an animal they saw hit by a car? What happened?

Once. On my way back to uni one time last year, my dad was driving and saw something in the road, he swerved to avoid it but we realised it was a dog. Got them to back and it turned out he was still alive, but he'd obviously been hit by a car who'd just ignored him and left. Poor thing was freezing, so must have been there a while. Anyway we got him out of the road, rang the police in case a dog missing had been reported, and a vet to come take care of him. Police turned up, then had to take him to the vets since the one that turned up didn't have space for an animal, so had to be taken in the police car. There was only the one officer though so I went along to try keep him calm and warm in the back since he was obviously scared.

All turned out alright though, and the owner rang up first thing in the morning to report it, sounds like a door had been left open by accident or something and the dog had just got nosy. He didn't look badly taken care of so I don't think for a second he was running away intentionally.

Sucks someone was heartless enough to go after hitting him, but out of 7 cars that went past while we were there, 2 cars stopped to help us move him out of the road and try make sure he was okay, and one woman had a load of sheets in the back of her car which she got out and gave us to try help keep him warm. Don't know who any of the people who stopped are, but I do love them a little bit for it.

[victoriangirl]

Police turned up, then had to take him to the vets since the one that turned up didn't have space for an animal, so had to be taken in the police car. There was only the one officer though so I went along to try keep him calm and warm in the back since he was obviously scared.

I wish cops would be so kind and considerate here as well. They would not even be bothered to help out and would tell the person to get a cab. Than you have this whole thing about finding a cab driver with a heart who is not worried about his seats getting dirty from a dog. (as if humans are such clean creatures).

But on a more positive note; we have a stork near the beach where I live and everybody seems to respect & love him. Apparently this stork was quite small when it ventured on its journey from Europe to Africa, and landed on our beach, all exhausted & hungry. People from a cafe nearby have been taking care of him ever since. They even built him a shed like place, made sure he had enough access to food a stork enjoys. It's quite fascinating how well the stork is doing. He is respected by all stray cats & dogs in the neighborhoud as well. He seems quite content and quite friendly. Hopefully he will be strong enough one day to join his group again.