An Angus mother has spoken of her family’s grief after their dog was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver.
The driver of the white van, who drove off in daylight at a busy Forfar junction, stopped only to shout ”get that dog on a leash” as the pet’s owner attended to him.
Nicola Shand, of Lochside Road, described the decision to put nine-year-old Yorkshire terrier Hamish down as ”the hardest I’ve ever had to make.”
As the family have recently come back from holiday, the mother of four has only just informed her two youngest children.
Liam (4) and Kyle (7) were told Hamish was still at the vet’s after his accident led to five days in pain.
Mrs Shand contacted The Courier in the hope that her story will jog the memories of other drivers to identify the van’s owner.
She also asked the driver to show compassion for her family and say sorry to her children.
The family were due to fly to Cyprus on September 28, only to have the highlight of their year tarnished by one man’s actions.
Mrs Shand’s husband Murray was walking Hamish on Glamis Road at around 12.40pm on Thursday, September 22. The dog slipped the lead and stood in front of traffic heading into Forfar at the junction of West High Street and Dundee Loan.
The van at the head of traffic ran Hamish over and made to drive off. After coming to a halt, the driver shouted ”get that dog on a leash” before driving away.
Mrs Shand said: ”Hamish slipped his lead but the traffic was stopped. He was standing in the middle of the road but that driver just went into him.”
A pedestrian, who Mrs Shand called ”incredibly selfless”, helped Mr Shand with Hamish. The injured dog was taken to a local vet’s to recover.
After being moved to a vet’s in Dundee, further exploration during an attempt to fit a catheter found Hamish had suffered a perforated bladder.
Rather than letting the animal live out the rest of his life with difficulty, Mrs Shand took the decision to put him down.
The family went on holiday the next day a fraught experience for the older members of the group. Mrs Shand said she could not enjoy herself but ”made the best we could of the time.”