Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.

Social Media Post Misleads Public about Dog

April 13, 2020

Pet is Run Over, But Incident Was Accidental

Riverside County Animal Services worked closely with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Sunday night (April 12) on a traffic incident involving a dog in the city of Jurupa Valley.

A short video clip was posted on social media that showed a small dog apparently suffering in the middle of a street. The video also showed the motorist backing up and running over the dog, causing the animal’s death. But the short clip misleads the public.

After investigating the incident and speaking with sheriff’s deputies and the dog owner, Animal Services Officer Adam Haisten determined it was an unfortunate accident.

The dog’s owner explained to Officer Haisten that she had a come out of her home to conduct business with a vendor and left her gate open and her pet raced out to the street. That’s when the dog was hit by the car.

“The owner told me that the driver was not driving very fast and did not realize that they had hit her dog,” Haisten said. “She told me she began yelling due to her dog having been hit and the driver, unknowingly, backed up to find out why she was yelling and that’s when the dog was hit again.”

Haisten said the owner told her the incident was unintentional. It was believed that the vendor that captured the footage and posted the content on social media.

“We already know that this footage has been viewed by tens of thousands of people, but we want to ensure the public that we investigated the matter fully,” Animal Services Director Julie Bank said. “Of course, we feel terrible about the poor dog and our hearts go out to the pet’s owner. But it’s important to note that this was a very unfortunate accident.”