A Mission woman is trying to raise awareness about safe driving in school zones and accountability to your neighbours after her dog was struck and injured by a hit-and-run driver.
Beth Pete said the incident took place on Wednesday (March 6) morning at about 8:30 a.m.
“It wasn’t dark out and there were tons of kids walking to school. I had just finished dropping my elementary-age kids off at school,” said Pete.
She parked her van in the driveway and opened her door, her dog, who often comes with her to take the kids to school, jumped out and ran towards the street.
“I called her back and she stopped in her tracks, and that’s when she was hit.”
Pete watched as a vehicle struck her one-year-old dog, a standard poodle/golden retriever cross named Valentine.
“The driver just drove away,” she said in disbelief.
There is no sidewalk on Juniper and Pete said the end of everyone’s driveway is “literally the place where vehicles drive.”
The accident took place just a block away from another hit-and-run accident – involving a young woman being struck – the day before.
“I live on Juniper Street, which is a school zone and I don’t think people know that.”
Juniper Street runs from 10th Ave. to 7th Ave. adjacent to Mission Secondary School.
Pete said cars “rip” down the road all the time.
Valentine weighs about 60 pounds and Pete said “there’s no way this person didn’t see that they hit something.”
The dog suffered a broken leg and some other injuries and is awaiting surgery.
“So she’s actually scheduled for surgery on Thursday. Her leg is broken and we don’t have pet insurance so we’re paying three grand to get her leg fixed and hopefully that will happen.”
While a GoFundMe page has been set up, Pete says she doesn’t really expect other people to pay for her dog’s medical bills.
“Mission is a small community, I do expect that if something happens and you cause a trauma to your neighbors that you stick around, roll down your window and say ‘Hey, are you OK.’ We shouldn’t be having this situation where children and animals are hit and the driver just leaves. It’s crazy.”
Pete said she knows it was an accident.
“Nobody means to hit something. I also know if I’d had a hold of her, this tragedy could have been avoided.”
She believes the community is in support of raising awareness on safety issues.
“I know there is support in this community for this type of thing. For awareness for safety in school zones and accountability to your neighbours. It’s a big issue here,” said Pete.
To view the GoFundMe Page for Valentine, visit:
gofundme.com/vet-for-valentine.
