This van allegedly took a right turn at the intersection of 20th and Harrison this afternoon right into a pair of allegedly off-leash puppies who were crossing the street in the crosswalk, their owner right behind them.
Witnesses reported that one of the pair died on impact, while the other’s desperate yelps could still be heard minutes later. Paramedics and animal control units were on the scene.
A white-jacketed forensics expert was taking iPhone video of eye-witness accounts:
“What? Walking my dogs unleashed on a city street, let alone through a crosswalk, can end badly? But my dogs are so well behaved!”
My heart breaks for those puppies, and I have sympathy for the owner and the driver of the van, but GODDAMN do unleashed dogs on city streets drive me crazy. Maybe I’m just too much of a cynical asshole, but this is what I’m expecting to happen every time I see something like that. I think I started feeling that way shortly after seeing an unleashed dog get run over by the N chasing after a skateboarder.
Pro-tip: If you drive or bike in the city, drive slow enough to safely respond to any and every thing that might not be expected. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE: SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.
Pro-tip: Leash your dog.
Super-Pro tip: These things are not mutually exclusive.
If the good lord had intended us to travel at 4mph, he woudn’t have given us roller skates.
Put your dogs on a leash you f-ing idiots. How is a bus driver supposed to see a little puppy running across the street no matter how slow they are going. You idiot mission hipsters fixed gear tight shorts wearing baristas should get off your bikes and get a job.
Love ya!
Wait, what… this SPECIFIC van 6LMV207…? Not a similar-looking van whose picture you found on Flickr? ‘Cause this is serious business.
I’m thinking that this item could be mis-titled, though; if the dogs were off-leash, this might be called a case of owner-dogslaughter. Seriously, how could anyone walk a dog in THIS FUCKING CITY, OFF-LEASH, and not be held responsible for animal cruelty if it got run over? If you’re an adult human being, you know what this place is like — but your free-spirited dog does not.
Off-leash dog-walkers really piss me off.
What do you expect:
“a pair of off-leash puppies”
Owner was being irresponsible.
Pretty much. I hold my kid’s hand across the street. If someone as short as her were to go out alone I doubt a car would see her. A tiny puppy? Not a chance.
My dog once got tapped by a car in a crosswalk. He was leashed and I was able to yank him mostly out of the way. If he hadn’t been on leash he would have been killed. Keep your pups on leash folks.
This is depressing and irrelevant. Why blog it?
Puppies could not possibly be well trained enough to be off leash. Bad dog owner.
NO dog should be off leash in this city (unless it’s in a dog park or enclosed area made for that.)
Don’t ask me, ask the ASPCA training guy who was really totally serious about this when I got my puppy.
ASPCA guy is just parroting a line from Big Leash, his corporate overlord.
it’s relevant.. cause i see a lot of dumb ass dog owners doing this in the mission.
It’s OK, the dogs understand English.
These guys are running down hells angels members one minute, innocent off leash puppies the next.
if it happened as described, i think you could lay some blame on both parties. if you are driving and you come across a crosswalk you should slow down and make sure no adult, child or animal is in the crosswalk or approaching it. on the other hand letting your dogs cross the street without a leash is irresponsible and asking for trouble. the dogs paid for these folks’ bad judgement.
The owner is apparently an idiot, and these kinds of UCSF/OnLok/etc. medical-ish shuttles are always ALWAYS driven by the worst drivers. However, these two situations are not related.
I bike around one of the UCSF hotspots. The drivers have always been courteous and aware of my bike.
Well, you’re lucky.
both parties sound responsible. the owner could not have been that far behind the dogs and it sounds like the driver tried to beat the pedestrian to the punch and make a quick, fast turn before the pedestrian reached the curb and street. way to not make a complete stop and yield to approaching pedestrians, ass man.
on the other hand, the dogs’ owner is an idiot for not being vigilant of both bikers and vehicles approaching. i bet it was a woman and i bet she had head phones on.
Yeah, it totally sounds like that’s exactly what happened. Nice work, chief.
It sounds like the driver was wearing a purple shirt and the pedestrian was wearing some sort of wing costume like in those Victorias Secret ads. Also sounds like the puppies were brown and adorable.
This intersection is a 4-way stop. Even if the van made a complete stop before making a right-turn, it would still be difficult to see a pair of unleashed puppies, especially if they were walking/running up from behind.
Likewise, we don’t know how far behind the owner was from the puppies, nor do we know if the puppies went across the street while the owner stayed at the corner waiting for the van to turn first.
The dog owner should be walked around on a leash.
That seems entirely too merciful. I would vote for the dog owner having his arms and legs cut off, and being left on the street, several intersections away from home. The driver should have his license taken away for 5 years, on the grounds that he might carelessly run over an armless and legless person.
Tough but fair.
I think this guy is the puppy killer