Posted on 11/24/2005 9:02:35 PM PST by blam
Dog survives 50-mile ride clinging to front of car
By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent
(Filed: 25/11/2005)
A dog has survived a 50-mile journey clinging to the front of a car as it sped down the motorway.
The resilience of the black and white collie cross-breed has astounded vets, not to mention the driver of the car, who was astonished to discover the dog trapped in the grille at the front of his vehicle.
The motorist, who was travelling from Coleraine to Belfast in Northern Ireland, remembered hearing a thump as he was driving his Peugeot 306.
Thinking he had hit something as he travelled on the road approaching Ballymena he looked in his rear-view mirror, but saw nothing on the road behind so did not stop.
It was only when he arrived at Belfast's Odyssey Arena and got out of his car that he heard barking and realised he had a passenger.
The police were called and they took the dog to the Earlswood Veterinary Surgery in east Belfast for treatment. Staff there nicknamed it Father Jack after the cantankerous Father Ted character, because the eight-year-old mongrel was slightly grumpy after its ordeal.
''He is quite sore around his back and neck, but he is going to be OK," said Emma McGowan, a veterinary nurse at Earlswood.
''The driver knew that he had struck something on the carriageway, but he didn't see anything so he drove on."
Remarkably, the dog had not suffered any serious injury following the collision.
Its hour-long miracle ride was all the more remarkable given the miserable weather conditions on the night of the journey earlier this week.
''He is totally fine," said Miss McGowan. "He is just a bit grumpy and quite smelly.
"He has been sleeping well but he is still traumatised. Hopefully he will come round."
She added: "We do get the odd strange thing here but we've never seen anything like this before."
The vets are anxious to trace the owner of the dog.
Ping.
Good dog. Tough dog.
Glad to see you made it.
Just remember,.. now the dog knows where he lives.... and payback is a B....
Tough little bigger,isn't he?
I'd be cranky too if that happened to me.
LOL!
Tough old Northern Irish dog!
To: "Magic Carpet Ride"
I like to bark, woof,
ride on front of your machine
With a dog-hit-grille with bump in the night,
Any place you drive is right.
Goes far, flies near,
a Milk-Bone and I'm outta here.
Woof! Well, you don't know where, we could go.
Why don't you come with me, Chauffeur?
On a Magic Peugeot ride.
You don't know
you can't see me
Why don't you stop for scones or tea?
I'm so tired and I gotta pee.
Slow down Driver, Look out! Driver!
Let this doggie find a tree.
(musical interlude)
Last night I chased a Limousine
It sped up and got away
Then you struck me, from behind,
I'm blocking off your air intakes
I howled, no use,
Seems to me you'd hit the brakes.
WOOF! you don't know the,
pain I'm in.
Why don't you stop for scones or tea?
I'm so tired and gotta pee.
You don't know where, we could go.
Why don't you come with me, Chauffeur?
On a Magic Peugeot ride.
(long musical interlude...)
Poor little guy.
He probably kept up with you for a mile or so.
Traumatized? N.S. Sherlock. He caught one, finaly.
Did it wear an orange or green collar?
Hell, I'd be grumpy too if forced to play 'hood ornament' for 50 miles!
A neighbor of mine went about the same distance with a hawk in the grill of his truck a few months back. He knew he hit it (unintentionally, they're hard to dodge) but didn't know it was there until some of his kids found it and peeled it off. It wasn't long before that sucker got up and flew away. True story.
How it was possible NOT to overheat the engine by blocking the radiator is beyond me. Musta been cold weather
Once took our cat for a ride on top of my van. It was night time and I didn't realize the cat was sleeping on top of the van. About a mile from the house he came sliding down the windshield and latched onto the windshield wipers for dear life. His eyes were the size of quarters.
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