Driving Miss Daisy

Where to begin? Well, it was a rough day for Halo and family. As those who’ve been following along know, Halo lives with Tanja and her children. Halo went to stay while I was in Montana in June and she loved it so much she stayed on over the summer. Halo will leave for the US to be bred for the last time in November but til then she is with the family who will take her once she’s done with her litter (if Halo had her way that would be on day two) and spayed.

I gather this morning started out like any other, kids piled in the van for their trip to school and Halo settled in her usual co-pilot position. I understand that a different route than normal was taken to school and one thing led to another which resulted in a low speed collision in a residential intersection.

The airbags deployed and hit both Tanja and Halo. Halo suffered a helluva thump in the face on the left side of her muzzle which caused abrasions; no breakage of teeth or bones but there was a lot of superficial blood. Initially it was thought that Halo might have hit the windshield but after some discussion it is more likely that the airbags caused the damage.

Tanja and kids are fine … the van is toast and Halo's muzzle is a bit swollen but should be fine. She is clearly in some pain and will be very sore for the next few days but a couple of children’s aspirin should take the edge off. Once a new vehicle is found Halo will be fitted with a dog seat belt and secured into place, however; regardless of a seat belt the airbag would have hit her.

This is the only picture I have of the van - well, it's really of the decal on the back that I designed. There is Halo next to the crate I never used. Petal used to stand on it so she could see better but that was the extent of it's use generally. Oh yeah, I'd put Halo in it if I was going to leave her in the van for long periods because she would wreck things.

Halo doesn’t travel in a crate why? Because the minivan was not big enough to accommodate 4 child seats and a crate big enough for Halo. This is a compromise because the safety of the children is paramount (and lack of child safety seats is illegal) but not everyone can afford a 7 seater full sized monster gas guzzler.

Everyone is safe now and no permanent damage done, except the van of course which I gave to Tanja when I got my shiny new truck … goodbye Daisy van … RIP.