Roscoe No Longer on Patrol
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 10:47 AM
Roscoe, the Great Pyrenees, in a photo taken last fall – photo opinion250 archive
Prince George, B.C.- The final chapter in the story of Roscoe the Great Pyrenees has been written.
He died earlier this week, his body found in the ditch in front of the shelter the neighbours had provided for him. He had been struck by a vehicle.
Roscoe is the stray dog who had adopted a rural neighbourhood on the north end of Prince George. For four years, he patrolled the area, keeping bears, moose , coyotes and wolves away from the neighbourhood he had claimed as his “territory”.
Late last year, there was an effort by the SPCA to capture Roscoe, the officers were acting on complaints that Roscoe was dishevelled and concerns he could be ill. That situation was brought to a close when volunteers paid to have a mobile veterinarian hired and brought to the area to examine Roscoe. Roscoe was checked over, given a clean bill of health, vaccinated and left to continue the job and life he had chosen. The Vet said Roscoe was likely about 6 years old, and was in pretty good shape. Dr. Jodyne Green also said at the time it was in the best interests of the dog to let him continue to live the life he preferred “Leave the dog outside, that’s what he likes best, he also likes his freedom.”
Although people in the neighbourhood had tried to convince Roscoe to stay at one of their homes, Roscoe wasn’t interested. So neighbours provided a dog house, fresh straw , food and water to make him comfortable.
On Monday morning, Roscoe was struck by a vehicle in front of his shelter. Wanda Underhill, one of the people who had cared for him for the past 4 years says while no one knows how the end came for this dog, she says she only hopes it was quick and says given the amount of blood and condition of his body, she believes that to be so.
Underhill was one of the few people Roscoe had come to trust over the years, allowing her to feed him by hand. Ute Wilder was another of Roscoe’s favourite people, and she was one of the last to see Roscoe alive. She drove to his shelter from her downtown Prince George home Monday morning, as she did every week, and brought him food. Underhill says a special thank you should be passed along to Wilder for her dedication to Roscoe’s well being "She said she gave him one of the best meals she had ever brought him, one thing’s for sure, he didn’t die with an empty tummy."
“I am devastated” says Underhill. “My husband and I went to see him Monday and found him in the ditch. We loaded him into the back of our truck and took him away.” She says the thought of cremating Roscoe was considered, but “That wasn’t Roscoe, he lived in nature, and we returned him to nature.”
Comments
Thanks for sharing but hoo boy, do I now want to cry for this beautiful animal. I do hope heaven is as good as they say. Rest in Peace sweet beast (I call all my pets beasts, lovingly of course).
To the person that hit him, my god, do you have no heart. Karma’s a b***, they say, watch out for it.
“To the person that hit him, my god, do you have no heart. Karma’s a b***, they say, watch out for it”
Really? Are you for real?
may he rest in peace
“What goes around comes around.”
An old expression dragonmaster. Sometimes put into a different vernacular. The bitch version might be appropriate in this case.
So what were you thinking? Your message is one of those which really has no clarity of intent. I would like to read your intent.
“Karma’s a b***, they say, watch out for it.”
“What goes around comes around.”
How I wish it were true. It’s a thing that people like to say to themselves. I’ve even said it from time to time.
Rest in Peace Roscoe. My condolonces to all the wonderful kind and caring people that were a part of his life.
To the family and friends that took care of Roscoe…condolences….to the person(s) who hit him and left him, all I can do is shake my head….
The intent in my comments are quite clear gus!
The comments I quoted in this case are completely ridiculous.
So you people that think the comment, (“To the person that hit him, my god, do you have no heart. Karma’s a b***, they say, watch out for it”) is completely fitting in this case because why???
Please enlighten me.
You’re saying the vehicle that hit the dog was driven by someone that knew they hit the dog or that they did this on purpose?
Unless you know exactly, the circumstances that this poor dog was killed you are just assuming what happened and therefore the karma comments are ridiculous.
Lets see….winter time, white snow, white dog, possibly laying in the middle of the road, in the dark…….who knows? Surely there is no evidence that calls for such a stupid comment in this case.
You know what assuming something means correct?
Please, you guys; take it outside.
We are outside, please stay inside!
I am pretty sure you would know if you hit a dog that size regardless of whether it was lyingin the middle of the road or not. And it doesn’t sound like that was his usual habits or this would have happened a lot sooner than this. They were probably in a hurry to get homet to thier nice warm comfy couch to put thier feet up and watch tv and couldn’t be bothered to even call anyone like the SPCA or whoever to come and check on him or pick him up. Whoever you are, I hope you sleep good at night knowing you did nothing to give this dog some dignity.
He has a face of an angel and to come to that kind of end is pretty f!@#%$* sick. I hope I never have to see something such as this happen to a dog first hand.I would probably chase the person down and most likely end up in jail for serious bodily assault,whether it be a dog or human being.What’s the problem with stopping and taking some responsibility for hitting the animal, as it may have been an unavoidable accident.Doing the right thing sure helps one sleep better at night.
Assumers are rampant!
Awww, RIP Roscoe. I saw another Pyrenees wandering around by Walmart last Friday. I called a few place and hope they got the word out so his/her caretaker could pick him/her up safely.
Wow Dragonmaster, take a valium. Short’s in a knot?
You’re the lead assumer bornandbred, whats with that? My shorts are fine, but judging from your karma comments you’re the one that needs a valium.
Dragonmaster – obviously you do not know the habits of Roscoe or the neighbourhood.
One would know if they hit an object the size of that dog. The dog was found in the ditch – not on the road. Someone with a bone to pick?
I feel for those that did their best to look after him = hope you would do it again and help another animal in need.
People grieve in different ways.
To bad some humans are to selfish. The person that did hit the dog shame on you for not letting anyone know. And yes, Karma is fitting even for another person.
:P
Roscoe died living the life he chose. He was happy fella.
Special thanks to those folks who fed him and helped keep him free.
We know that all dogs go to heaven. Peace.
I hit a coyote once on a highway. Coyotes are probably less than half the size of a Great Pyrenees.
I saw and felt the coyote. If you do not know when you are driving into or over an animal of that size, you should not be on the road because you are likely drunk or you do not have awarenes around you to be a allowed to drive a motor vehicle.
While there are many reasons why thee dog may have been in the ditch rather than on the road, one of them is that either the driver who hit him or some other person dragged the dog off the road.
We do not know whether someone called the CO or the RCMP or the BCSPCA. Calls like that probably get low priority so may not get recorded if it was a busy time.
So, let’s just call it a who gives a chit attitude on your part dragonmaster. That is fine. Some people are like that. It takes many different kinds to make up this world, including people who do not want to hear this kind of discussion.
I propose we change the name of this site to rampantspeculation250. Who’s with me?
I saw him laying out there just thought he was doing his thing. To the person who ran him down have a nice day.
And you to Pat
I hit a dog once on cummings,he cleared the ditch, got up and ran off. Yes Rosco nice dog but he was on the road, so that automatically makes it the drivers fault, amazing. Any witnesses.
You would definitely know that you had hit a dog that size; and there is probably damage on the vehicle too! And i agree, what comes around, goes around. The dog was not known for being on the road.
I was not speculating what had happened to this beautiful creature. I was commenting on what this article says happened. I am sorry Dragonmaster if you think I mean that I want someone to be run over for this. What I meant was that if you treat living things cruelly, then that is how I feel you will be treated in life.
I just hope that whoever ran this dog over, and didn’t assist him, will have lousy things happen to them e.g. their milk curdles, the car battery dies, their face breaks out in pimples, and so on. I should have been clear that I wasn’t hoping for death. Just as gus stated above, what goes around, comes around.
Johny Belt I.m with you, there is a big difference between feelings and facts, I know of a logging trucks that totaled a car and didn,t notice
How does anyone know the driver did not stop?
I ran over a dog on the hwy in a chip truck once and never felt a thing. Didn’t even know I had actually hit it until I stopped for a brake check.
gus you’re a real knob!
The chip truck explains a lot Dragonmaster.
This breaks my heart. RIP Roscoe. I am also offering my condolences to the kind peeps up on the Hart that made him part of their “family”. At least this homeless guy did know some kindness in his life….
R.I.P.Roscoe, it is a shame the dog had to die this way, but what did the S.P.C.A. and Dr.Green expect would happen to a dog left to live on his own ? even with neighbors looking out for him.
Dogs are smart but humans should of been smarter, captured the dog and placed him on a loving rural farm, !!!! I am pretty confident that Roscoe would of adjusted to farm life, and he would of been safe.
Shame on the S.P.C.A. and Dr.Green.
Oh man, here we go another dead dog scroll. Ya I don`t think I`m even go there this year…especially with that bitch karma hangin around…
Dragonmaster doesn’t drive chip truck anymore, because he was not the kind that was cut out for it. He is more the type that runs over a dog and then doesn’t make any attempt to notify anyone about it. Plays ignorant and than treats others with callous regard for the audacity of having sympathy for a loved creature.
Dragonmaster if I’m right is the one that campaigned relentlessly to have his neighbors chip truck removed from the end of Domano. Complained about the noise pollution to his little world… no room for others.
My old dog Sam use to go for an afternoon walk every day from Foothills to my dads friends place in the crescents area everyday for 18-years. Dad would stop by on his way home from work and pick the mutt up for the ride home. Only got nabbed once by the dog catchers and he had to cross central every time. A smart dog knows to avoid cars… accidents do happen, but mostly its cars that hit dogs and not the other way around.
That’s really too bad about Roscoe. I have seen him laying on the road a couple of times though. I just always watched for him. Sad to see him gone.
Ok,So these folks had 4 years to take this dog in and re-domesticate it.I don`t know why you think you should be patting yourselves on the back and trying to blame this poor driver who now has damage to his/her vehicle because a few idiots SPCA, Vet and anyone else who attended should have made more of an effort to keep this dog in a safe place and not lying in the middle of the road,so before you go putting an epoc on the poor ,and more than likely traumatized driver you folks that decided to put this dogs life in danger better pin a scarlet letter on you back for being idiots.
Domestic animals need to be fenced in or properly tethered to keep them safe.If you chose to let your pets run free than it`s your fault should any harm come to them…
“I know of a logging trucks that totaled a car and didn,t notice”
I wonder if the driver of the truck noticed. ;-)
“Shame on the S.P.C.A. and Dr.Green.”
Please remember that the BC SPCA cruelty investigation group wanted to take Roscoe but the neighbours and many others were against that.
Read the story at the time
http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/22050
From that story: “SPCA said at the time that Rosco would not be returning to his home in the bush near the Underhill home.”
That was the intent.
So please, make sure you know the facts that have been provided to you.
I remember the story from last year.
No need to send me the link ! I don’t need your help remembering how this story went.
Please remember that the SPCA cruelty investigation group wanted to take Roscoe but the neighbors and many others were against that. ??
The SPCA is supposed to help those animals who cannot help themselves.
No one owned this dog, so how is it possible that a group of neighbors can send the SPCA away ? they failed right there,the SPCA could not catch the dog, they failed again, and should train there staff better, the vet examined the dog, and the SPCA should of stepped in and taken possesion of the dog right there, but they didnt, so they failed again. Three strikes !
Again I will say the SPCA and the vet failed to look after the best intrest of this dog, and although the neighbors meant well, a bunch of do gooders cost this dog his life by thinking they knew what was best.
Yup and bi**# karma will get em all…
I`m just curious,has anyone tried to find the owner???I read a story on Vancouver Island where a hiker went missing,he had been missing for about a month until someone spotted a dog hanging out on a logging road between Port Alberni and Bamfield. other folks had reported seeing this dog and at one point they decided to get out and try to catch it,the dog ran off they pursued and low and behold it led them right to the missing mans body.
The dog had been hanging out in the area it`s owner died for almost a month
That is also a very good point !!!! This also happened in Quesnel when an elderly woman went for a walk with her two dogs, one dog returned home alone, so the family went searching for her, and found her deceased with her other dog by her side.
The discussions surrounding the matter of should and can have been held on here last November. Also the discussion of where this dog likely came from as well as the nature of this breed of dog.
The dog was obviously not tatooed, microchipped or wore a collar with identity tag. Without that it is difficult to ID a dog and find the vet it has been seen by in the past or the owner. I am sure that there were many people involved since Roscoe showed up in the area with trying to find the owner.
As far as the SPCA goes, they cannot simply confiscate an animal for cruelty (and that is all they can confiscate an animal for) when no cruelty is observable.
What consitutes cruelty is a matter of opinion as well as a matter of law. The BCSPCA works on the basis of what constitutes cruelty on the basis of law. They have to.
You and I and other private people work on the basis of personal opinion. I cannot change yours, and you cannot change mine. That is the way of the world.
Here is a Vancouver story of a group of people who “steal” dogs because they are kept outside.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/left+alone+always+abuse+expert+says/5805310/story.html
It takes all kinds to make up the world.
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