A callous driver has been condemned for leaving a pet to die in a hit-and-run incident on a rural Angus road.
Police are investigating the Sunday afternoon accident near Kirriemuir in which the Rennie family lost their six-year-old Shetland collie Laddie. His devastated owners hope a tell-tale sign of the crash may lead officers to the heartless motorist.
The distinctive tri-coloured sheltie was a pup when he came into the Reedie Farm Cottages home, near Westmuir, of farmworker Norman Rennie (44), his wife Morag (45) and children Sarah (21) and Scott (18).
The family also have another sheltie, four-year-old rescue dog Jasper, but around 4.30pm on Sunday the pair’s strong bond was ended in a tragic incident on the busy, straight road outside the family home on the A926 Kirriemuir-Alyth road.
Unfortunately Laddie made the uncharacteristic and fatal mistake of escaping from the garden of the property and appears to have crossed into the path of a driver, whom police say must have known they had hit the poor animal.
The Rennies admit it was a regrettable mistake that Laddie had wandered but they are furious that the driver just carried on. They now hope a fog light left within yards of the dying dog will help police to track down who was responsible.
Norman said: ”He shouldn’t have got out, we know that, and so at the end of the day it’s not the car driver who was to blame for the accident the dog was on the road.
”If they had come to us and said that our dog had run into the road and damaged their car we would have been liable but there’s no way that’s the case now after they just drove off.
”Whoever did it knew they had hit that dog. They lost a light and their car might have been damaged. That’s what’s made us so angry, that they didn’t stop.
”It could only have been a couple of minutes that he was out because if one dog goes somewhere the other one always follows and Jasper was still in the garden.
”I just happened to look out and he was lying there at the verge on the other side of the road.”
Although still breathing, Laddie died at a local vet’s surgery shortly after, with a smashed back among the injuries he sustained in the accident.
Morag said: ”We’re just so annoyed that someone has left him there. There are only six houses and if whoever had done this had gone to one of the doors and said that they had hit a dog they would have found out whose it was.
”We’ve always had shelties and he was a great wee dog. He had his own little personality and was completely different from Jasper, who we got to keep him company.
”Last night Jasper seemed a bit lost. I couldn’t sleep because of what had happened and he seemed to be up and down, padding about looking for him.”
The fog light was left lying in the middle of the road near the scene and early inquiries indicate that it may have come from a Ford Focus or Fiesta.
”It was definitely left after the accident so hopefully it will help the police find whoever did this. We just can’t believe someone would have left him there,” Norman added.
A statement issued by the police said: ”Following the collision the offending vehicle has left the scene and it’s believed the driver would have been aware of the collision.
”Anyone with information that could assist officers with their investigation, or who saw the collision, should contact Tayside Police on 0300 111 2222, or speak to any officer.”
Information can also be passed on anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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