Michael Borshuk

On my half-hour walk to campus this morning (an often treacherous journey, given the lack of sidewalks and the prevalent disrespect for pedestrians in this town), I saw two stray dogs running about, venturing dangerously close to the thick traffic on one of the city's innumerable four-lane thoroughfares. Immediately, I was upset. This city is overrun with loose dogs, an infuriating characteristic that, in my mind, speaks to a) a general disregard among the population for pets; and b) a municipal inability to punish sufficiently those who don't take better care of their animals. (I propose a five-hundred dollar fine for people unable to keep their dogs collared and contained at home--a move that would ensure animals and us stubborn pedestrians stay safe.)

What began as a common enough annoyance, though, soon devolved into a pretty sickening display. The dogs, running wild, did wander into traffic, and while one was able to avoid the mess of cars flying by at 50-60mph, the second did not. He was hit by a passing motorist, and pinned beneath one of the car's wheels for a moment. Amazingly, the dog got up from the impact, and, likely rushing with adrenaline, sprinted, yelping, away. I ventured after them for a block or so, trying to find the hit dog so I could take him back to my house and bring him to an animal hospital, but he disappeared into an alley and I couldn't find him. I imagined he had, at least, a broken limb.

Meanwhile, the offending motorist stopped for maybe a second or two before hitting the gas and flying on his/her morning way. Maybe this reflects a lack of concern for the hurt dog, or maybe it speaks to the danger for all of us on Lubbock's major thoroughfares. There were, after all, a whole army of speeding trucks--that is, ugly monstrosities like the vehicle pictured above--approaching ever-so-fast from the rear.

I would voice my rage in some local public forum over the whole depressing incident--and the multiple ways that the culture of the city allows such things to occur--though I know that the response I've often received in the past when getting openly critical around here is usually this: "Why don't you leave and go back to where you came from?"