Pet Dog killed in a hit and run in Coraki ‘epitome of the degradation of humanity’, says local vet

BY KATE COXALL

Distressing words to read for any dog lover last week as local Vet

Dr Bruno Ros of North East Equine Veterinary Services posted on social media on Tuesday 16th May about the incident he says occurred around 3:55pm, in an attempt to find the person he says “lined the dog up, and kept driving, even after the border collie had been hit”.

Bruno relayed the story to us, repeatedly saying that the dog, similar to any animal, wildlife included, was a sentient being, whose life should be considered, and to treat it in this manner, was an unsavoury act”.

The dog was hit during the day, on a long straight road in Coraki, with Dr Bruno giving all manner of signals for the driver to slow down, to avoid hitting the pet dog, who had escaped with a neighbouring dog, and wandered out onto the road.

“I was catching and safely securing the large brown dog, the friend of the border collie, which takes time as you can imagine, and during this time, despite all the warnings possible, the driver of the white van chose not to slow down at all, but instead, lined up the border collie, and didn’t stop or even slow down.”

“I appealed to the community in the hopes that someone may have a dash cam which could identify the driver, but haven’t heard anything back so far”

Dr Bruno, clearly affected by the act of animal cruelty, has gone first thing to purchase cameras to cover all angles, as he says “he doesn’t want to be in that position again”.

Dr Bruno also urged “anyone who hits an animal, which may happen accidentally, to stop and call WIRES for wildlife, or a local Vet to ensure the animal doesn’t have to suffer unnecessarily, unless it is clearly identified the animal is no longer alive”.

Dr Bruno says “All animals, as sentient beings deserve this.” Research (1) clearly shows while historically, animal cruelty has been considered an isolated issue, there is a well-documented link that it is a predictive or co-occurring crime with violence against humans, and is associated with other types of violent offences.

By reporting these crimes and identifying them early, more violent crimes can be avoided.

If you have witnessed this or similar animal cruelty cases, report them with as much evidence as you have, registration number and images/video are ideal, to Richmond District police or Crimestoppers- 1800 333 000 https://nsw. crimestoppers.com.au/.

(1. Phil Arkow, “Recognizing and Responding to Cases of Suspected Animal Cruelty, Abuse, and Neglect: What the Veterinarian Needs to Know,” Veterinary Medicine: Research and Reports, no. 6 (November 2015): 349-359, accessed January 26, 2021,