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My Story

Drivers, watch out for animals

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published September 16, 2005

story of Chelsey Harris of Brandon, as told to Times staff writer Andrew Meacham:

Monday morning, my 3-year-old dog was struck and killed by a car. I want to tell that story.

Napollian, a white chow-Siberian husky mix, was big and playful and very masculine. He and my 8-month-old daughter were the best of friends, chasing each other around the house. When I awoke with my daughter yesterday, I realized that Napollian was not here. He may have gotten out through a door that was left open a crack.

I looked for him during the day but could not find him. Then my fiance told me he had seen a county truck picking up a dead animal by the roadside at Kings Avenue and Tradewinds Drive, but he could not see the animal.

At about 3 p.m., I went to the county's Animal Control Department on Falkenburg Road. I told the officer that I was trying to find my dog. The officer asked where we lived and when I told him he said, "I've got bad news for you."

The accident was reported not by the driver who hit him, but a passer-by. Animal Control had delivered Napollian's body to be cremated two hours earlier. They would not let me have his ashes.

The only thing I have left is a leash. So my fiance and I will bury that in the back yard. He is making a wooden cross to mark the spot.

I would like to ask all drivers to be cautious when you see an animal, because that could be someone's loved one. And don't always think nothing is going to happen to him because something could.

I also would like the person who hit my dog to please come forward, because we don't even know what my dog was doing before he died. I know accidents happen, but if you hit an animal, you can't just drive off and leave him there.

[Last modified September 15, 2005, 11:02:11]