What To Do After You Crash With an Animal on the Road

Hundreds of thousands of animals get hit by cars each year, and some of them survive, if proper medical care is provided in time, but a lot of them end up dead. Of course, no one hits an animal with their cars on purpose, but there are cases when you just can't avoid it and you run into a dog, cat or a deer, through no fault of your own. But, even if it's not your fault, if you ever hit an animal, you should try and make sure that you take care of it and try and save its life. So, a couple of tips can come in handy if you ever find yourself in a situation like that.

The first thing you should after you hit an animal, is stop right away and see what condition it's in and whether it's still alive. But, remember not to leave the car in the middle of the road, but pull over to the side. Get close to the animal, but do it slowly, without any sudden moves, since you might scare it off and it may try to kick or scratch you. If you establish that it's dead, all you can do is take it off the road and put it on the side of the road. Then, immediately call the police and they will take care of the transportation of the dead animal.

If it's still alive, call a veterinarian's office, or the police, if you don't have a phone number of any veterinarian hospital. After you've made that call, grab a towel or a piece of cloth and wipe the blood off the injured animal. Then, you can try to cover the wound with a bandage, so that it doesn't lose too much blood. You have to do this as soon as possible, since an animal can live with a broken leg, but excessive blood loss is fatal.

While doing all this, try not to move the animal's neck or the area around its spine, since it might have sustained fractures and even the slightest turn or twist in the neck or spine can also be fatal.

Now, after you've given first aid to the animal, you can cover it with a blanket, if by any chance, you keep a blanket in your car, or you can use your jacket or other piece of clothing, to keep it warm, and then just wait for the veterinarian or the police to come and do their job.However, the most important thing that I want to point out is: Please try to avoid the animal crash in any case. You will spare yourself from big troubles and you will save a life.