I had just picked up my husband from work and we
were headed for our favorite lunch spot. We were traveling on the
Creek Nation turnpike in the middle of Tulsa. It was lunchtime,
and traffic was thick and moving at around 70 miles per hour. As
we crested a hill, my husband said, "Oh my gosh! What is that?"
There was something just ahead in our lane. We pulled quickly into
the next lane and slowed down. What we saw was heartbreaking. Lying
on the road in terrible condition, was a large Golden Retriever.
He had obviously been hit, and the driver didn't bother to stop.
What we saw next took my breath away. Right next to him, sitting
stoic and unmoving, was a Brittany Spaniel. My husband pulled over,
and I immediately called the Highway Patrol. They said they would
dispatch a car immediately. Traffic was cresting the hill at breakneck
speed, and I knew we had to get the Spaniel out of the road before
she was hit. We did a U turn and pulled into the median, which was
closest to the lane the dogs were in. A man in a Ford Explorer had
also stopped and was trying to coax the Spaniel off of the highway.
We knew to venture onto the highway was risking our lives, but the
situation was growing more tense by the moment. We were hesitant
to try to pick up the Spaniel, because a dog that has been through
such a trauma could react violently out of pure instinct for self
defense. The Spaniel refused to budge. She was staying with her
fallen friend. Cars were swerving and honking, and the Spaniel's
instincts must have been screaming for her to move to safety. She
just laid her head down right by the Golden Retrievers head and
began to cry. My husband said, "We have to do something! Let's
move the Retriever over to the median and the Spaniel will follow."
We waited for a break in traffic. A car flew by and startled the
Spaniel and it must have clipped her paw, because the Spaniel began
bleeding. "That's it, let's go now!" he screamed - we
ran onto the highway and pulled the Retriever over to the grassy
median. It was clear that he was dead. The Spaniel looked at us,
confused and apparently upset. She began shaking. With amazing timing,
right at that moment a man pulled up in a truck right next to us
and immediately realized the Spaniel had gone into shock and wasn't
able to move. He ran out onto the highway and grabbed her, rushing
her to safety. We grabbed the cell phone and called the number on
the Spaniel's tag, and the man that had carried her off of the highway
drove her to a nearby animal hospital. We also reported to the hospital
to tell the owner that their Retriever hadn't made it. Apparently,
the two dogs had somehow gotten out of their yard and wandered up
to the highway about half a mile away. After the adrenaline went
down, I took time to cry. I was reflecting on such loyalty and devotion,
trying to imagine a human that would be so brave as to stay with
a fallen friend, even if it meant death or injury. Now it is clearer
than ever to me why we love our dogs and pets the way we do. They
love with abandonment and fierce loyalty, and all they ask is that
we love them in return.
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