09/09/2026
ā¼ļøā¼ļø TRIGGER WARNING ā¼ļøā¼ļø
YOU DUMPED HIM. I TRIED TO SAVE HIM.
I need to say something that some people are not going to want to hear.
STOP DUMPING YOUR DOGS.
They are NOT disposable.
They are NOT trash.
They are NOT a problem you can get rid of by opening your car door and driving away.
When you dump your dog, you are abandoning a living, breathing animal that trusted you.
And they donāt understand what you have done.
They donāt know where they are.
They donāt know why youāre gone.
They donāt know how to navigate a highway.
They donāt know that the car coming toward them could kill them.
They donāt know that coyotes or large cats may be watching them.
They donāt know where their next meal is coming from.
They are scared. They are confused. They are vulnerable.
And sometimes they die.
Today, I watched that happen.
For three days, I had been trying to get this boy inside the fence at KCHO.
For THREE DAYS, I dreaded driving that stretch of highway to and from work and vet appointments because I was terrified I was going to see him lying dead in the road.
This morning, I did.
He was curled up on the side of the highway.
I pulled over.
I opened my passenger door.
I tried to coax him into my car.
He wouldnāt come.
He was terrified. When I tried to get closer, he started toward the roadway, so I backed off.
I was less than half a mile from work.
I thought, Iāll go get food. Iāll get the good stuff. Iāll come back. Iāll get him. Iāll save him.
When I pulled away, he followed me.
He walked behind my car.
So I turned on my flashers and drove slowly down the shoulder, hoping he would follow me to KCHO.
I thought maybeājust maybeāI could get him through the gate.
I pulled in.
He wouldnāt follow me.
I ran inside to grab wet food, hoping I could lure him in.
When I came back outsideā¦
HE WAS BACK ON THE HIGHWAY.
And someone had hit him.
His lifeless body was lying in the middle of the road.
He was dead.
I stood there knowing that I had spent three days trying to prevent exactly this.
And I felt like I had failed him.
I even felt guilty because I had been trying to get him to safety.
But the truth is this:
I shouldnāt have had to be there trying to save him in the first place.
Someone else made the decision to abandon him.
Someone else decided that dumping him was easier than taking responsibility.
And that decision put him on that highway.
I walked out into the road and dragged his body off the pavement so he wouldnāt be run over again.
I loaded his lifeless body into the van.
I took him to the vet.
Because even in death, he deserved more than being left on the side of the road to rot.
He will have a proper sendoff and a communal cremation.
But he should have had a home.
He should have had a family.
He should have had someone who loved him enough to NOT DUMP HIM.
This is what your āproblemā looks like when you dump it.
It looks like a terrified dog wandering a highway.
It looks like someone slamming on their brakes trying not to hit him.
It looks like a rescuer spending three days praying they can get him to safety.
And sometimesā¦
It looks like a dead dog lying in the middle of the highway.
So if youāre thinking about dumping your dog because youāre tired of him, donāt want him anymore, canāt afford him, donāt have a fence, are moving, or simply donāt feel like dealing with him anymoreā
STOP.
Pick up the phone.
Call a shelter.
Call a rescue.
Ask for help.
Ask someone to help you safely rehome him.
There are people who will try to help.
But DO NOT THROW YOUR DOG AWAY LIKE GARBAGE.
Because that dog doesnāt know you abandoned him.
He just knows youāre gone.
And he may spend his last hours looking for you.
He deserved better.
Every dog does.
And tonight, Iām going home with another dog on my heart that I couldnāt save.
To the person who dumped him:
I hope you understand what your decision cost him.
Rest peacefully, sweet boy.
Iām sorry.
I tried. š
