Dogs mowed down by bakkie
Owners left shattered after early walk ends in carnage
ACOLLEEN Glen couple out walking their dogs could do nothing but watch a bakkie speed off after hitting all five of their pets, killing them instantly and leaving behind nothing but a plastic light cover and muddy tracks among the carnage.
Gavin McLellan, 64, and his wife Anne, 62, now left without their “children” – Jelly, Golly, Gucci, Sasha and Scruffy – doubt the culprit will ever be found.
“And even if the police do find whoever did this, it won’t bring our dogs back,” an emotional Gavin said at the couple’s smallholding yesterday.
Like every other morning, they took their dogs for a short walk on Sunday at about 7.20am.
They were at the spot where they usually turn back, next to their property’s fence and about 300m from their main gate, when Gavin heard a vehicle approaching around a bend in Lower Seaview Road.
“I told Annie to get far away from the road, and the dogs followed her,” he said.
“Then I saw this white bakkie come around the corner, and I knew he wasn’t going to stay on the road.
“He started skidding across the grass next to the road.
“There was a small bush between me and Annie and I just saw him plough through the spot where they were standing.
“I feared the worst and looked around the bush, just to see the bakkie swerve back onto the road and drive off.”
The fence, about five metres from the road, was left intact but all of the dogs had been hit.
Anne said she had been standing against the fence, with all five dogs huddled around her legs.
Only Jelly, a German shepherd with hip problems, was on a leash.
French poodles Golly and Gucci, Border collie Sasha and Maltese crossbreed Scruffy were all sitting around her.
“I saw this vehicle coming right at us and my only thought was: he’s not stopping,” Anne said.
The bakkie missed her by inches, and the only injury she sustained was a bruised hand when Jelly’s leash was yanked from her grip.
“After the bakkie had left I was just shattered,” she said.
Gavin’s voice was thick with emotion as he described the horrific aftermath.
Speaking about little Scruffy, who seemed to have taken the brunt of the impact, he said: “I still remember the day he came to our house.
“Someone had left him by the side of the road on a pile of garbage when he was just a puppy and Annie went to put some food out for him.
“A day or two later he came sneaking into the house, and we did not have the heart to chase him away.
“That was seven years ago,” he said, choking back tears.
The only evidence left at the scene was a piece of plastic that looked like a mounting for a light on the vehicle’s bumper.
Gavin took it to a mechanic’s workshop where it was identified as a piece from a Mitsubishi Triton.
The couple reported the matter to the police, but both Gavin and Anne feel it is futile.
“I doubt they will be able to find the person based on a piece of plastic left behind. But we would like the public to take notice of what happened,” Gavin said.
“Maybe someone heard [something] about the incident.
“But what difference would it make, really? We don’t have any kids, these dogs were our kids.
“Now our kids are gone.”