Why so many dogs killed on the sides of roads in TN?

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Never seen a dog dead on the side of the road with a leash attached... and i've been here over 20 years. I may see one dead dog on the side of the road every.....two, three months or so? If that.

[RS-1080]

I see dogs on the road from time to time out here where I live. Splattered. But not as often as I see other creatures, and never with a leash on. In most cases people do try to avoid hitting them, but here in these hills & curves, you just can't crash into someone head on or drive off a buff when an animal darts out in front of you from the brush with no time to stop. Never crash your car in panic to save an animal when they jump out of the bushes.

[Jenny0078]

Thanks for the answers. No I wasn't really meaning the drivers that hit them, I meant if there were alot of people in TN who just left dogs on the sides of the road. And yeah thanks, I guess I do have a pretty good eye. My hubby spotted a couple too and pointed them out to me. He's a vet and loves dogs just as much as me

[JoAnn5]

Very strange!

[ShastaBell]

I've seen dead dogs, racoons, especially possums where I am all the time and I live in VA. I've also lived in NC. Going thro GA I've seen dead animals in the road. So, it's not a rarity in the south here or even in the North.

But, like mentioned already, many dogs roam quite freely. The owners don't pay attention to lease laws. Also, being in a mountainous area a lot of us have all we can do manuervering these roads and if an animal happens to run in front of us, there isn't always time to stop. They don't look first and they don't let us know, they just run... Big trucks on these winding roads probably are more the ones to run over something than just regular motorist, but then, if it is at night and it's pitch dark out, you're apt to run over most anything that is in the road.

[Creekcat]

Maybe she means collar instead of leash. I've seen several collared dogs run over, but never a leashed one.

[370z]

Originally Posted by Creekcat

Maybe she means collar instead of leash. I've seen several collared dogs run over, but never a leashed one.

We noticed on the highways in Knoxville several dogs that had been hit while we were there visiting. We were doing alot of driving around. Didn't notice if they had leashes because I always turn my head, can't stand to see that. I thought maybe it was because we saw so many dogs in yards that are not fenced in. A couple dogs came running after our car! I was beginning to wonder how much people really care about their pets! I guess people don't feel like they need fences in rural areas. I'm just very over protective with my dogs.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Jenny0078

I recently went to Tennessee for vacationing and I just loved all the wonderful people I met and beautiful attractions. But man, we seen so many little dogs on the sides of the road killed (9 total), it was heartbreaking. A lot of them still had leashes on and were in the mountains, so I highly doubt they all could have just ran away. I almost wanted to move to TN until I seen that. I'm sure there are mean people all over the country who do crazy things like this. And by no means do I intend to stereotype, but TN was the worst I've ever seen. Are there many people who just can't stand dogs in TN?

I'm going to guess with all of the critter road kill removal that has to be done in Tennessee, they just didn't get to those dogs you saw, yet. If you are from a "low critter" place compared to here, you are probably just not used to it. See any vultures? They're pretty common here.

[J&Em]

As in many more rural than suburban places all over the US people tend to let their dogs run free. Most of the time the animals seem to know not be in the road. We've been careful but have had dogs suddenly appear on sides of the road here (as well as in our travels in GA and NC) and scare us. So far we've been lucky and haven't hit one. There are also a fairly large population of hunting dogs that are not pets and are given free range not only while hunting season is on but while they are in training. Often we've come across them with radio collars on far, far away from any houses. I'm sure a fair number don't pay attention to the right of way on roads and pay the price. Not making excuses or condemning anyone just stating what we have seen living here. I highly doubt anyone here "hates" dogs but they may not feel the same level of concern you do for their working dogs.