Dog's death prompts petition

COEUR d’ALANE — Megan Kane, as she had done before, threw the ball for her dog, Scout, last Tuesday afternoon at G.O. Phipenny Park.

Only this time, with so many kids around for soccer practice, she threw it in a different direction than usual, and the new ball took a bad bounce toward Seventh Street.

The 1-year-old German shorthaired pointer enthusiastically gave chase.

“I saw it going in the direction and immediately sprinted toward 7th and yelling but it was too late,” she wrote.

As Kane ran, she saw an older model pickup northbound on Seventh, going what she believed was about 35 mph, beyond the street’s 25 mph.

There was nothing she could do.

The grayish truck hit Scout. There was a loud thunk. The driver didn't slow down, Kane said, and kept going.

The impact killed the beloved family pet.

“It’s truly an awful, torturous memory to live with,” she wrote. “And feeling like you are responsible for such a tragic incident is expressly awful.”

Kane and her spouse, Lindsay Herbert, parents of two young sons, are heartbroken. Their children loved Scout, a happy, loyal friend.

“She was a good dog,” Kane said, fighting back tears.

“She was part of our family, our life,” Herbert added. “She did everything with us.”

While Scout was off-leash, and dogs are required to be leashed in the city and not allowed in city parks, Kane said it was trained and was wearing an E-collar.

“It was a series of unfortunate accidents,” she said.

She said she and others saw the tragic event. Kane said she did not get the truck’s license number and did not report the incident to police.

“He was going so fast,” said Kane, who wonders why the driver just kept going. “So fast and he hit her very, very hard."

Both Kane and Herbert said drivers routinely speed between Harrison and Lakeside on Seventh Street.

“There needs to be something, something to slow traffic,” Kane said. “Just to get people to look and be aware of their surroundings,” she said.

She has launched a petition, “Coeur d’Alene Stop Sign Assessment for Scout & Our children,” which had 430 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

“Our town has grown,” it reads. “As with all change, it is time to pause and ensure we keep our children safe. As local residents, business owners and community advocates, we hereby request a formal and published review of the placement of stop signs in accordance with national safety standards to ensure Coeur d’Alene stop sign placements are increased.”

The area of focus for the study requested is midtown and downtown, all streets southwest of Interstate 90.

“The goal is not speed reductions, the goal is safety with frequency of driver attention to protect our community,” the petition reads.

“In addition, we formally request funding for permanent speed control signs on residential streets without stop signs for a range of seven or more city blocks,” it reads.

Coeur d’Alene Police Capt. Dave Hagar said police have not received a lot of complaints about problems with speeding on Seventh Street. He said patrol units are spread out around the city doing their best to reduce accidents and ensure public safety.

He said, speaking in general terms about such an accident, the driver was likely not at fault as he was on an arterial and the dog ran into the street. There is also the possibility that the driver was unaware he hit Scout.

Vicky Nelson, development director of the Kootenai Humane Society, said it is heartbreaking when pets are hit by vehicles.

According to the city's website, dogs are not allowed in city parks. Dogs are allowed on-leash on the Centennial Trail, the Prairie Trail, the Atlas Trail, the Kathleen Trail, the hiking trails on Tubbs Hill and on the Canfield Mountain trails. Dogs are also allowed on-leash on the paths in City Park, McEuen Park, and Riverstone Park. There are two off-leash Dog Parks in Coeur d'Alene.

"Even if you have the best behaved and well-mannered dog of all time, you never know what will trigger them to chase after something," Nelson wrote. "Not only a ball but another dog or squirrel could sway their behavior. Having your dog on a leash at all times while in public places is your best protection against harm to your furry friend."

Abby Fremouw, who lives at Seventh and Foster, wrote “Downtown has been a speeding zone especially along 7th and streets like Foster where there are very limited stop signs. We hear and see cars peeling out every day and flying down our streets.”

She said there are many families with small children in the area, “and a story like this makes my heart stop."

Fremouw knows Kane and Herbert and their children.

“This needs to change and I am hoping with the public becoming more aware, something can be done. The amount of traffic from out of state people has highly increased and the number of license plates we see tear down our street is saddening.”

Herbert said she grew up near Seventh and Foster and has lived in the area 30 years. She said she remembered it being a “scary street” and her parents always reiterated that she had to be on the sidewalk.

She said a crosswalk at Seventh and Foster is often ignored by drivers.

“If you stand there and press it and the lights are flashing, nobody stops,” she said. “It’s a rarity now that people would stop for you."


Kane said that on summer nights, windows are sometimes open at the Seventh Street home and she can hear cars zooming past, “like it’s a freaking highway.

“It’s just unsettling,” she said.

While the death of Scout has saddened the family, Kane and Herbert said they appreciate the support they have received not only from family and friends, but from strangers who reached out with kind words.

“That has overwhelmed us with gratitude and love in the face of a really terrible circumstance,” Kane wrote.

They hope something good can come from Scout’s death.

“We don’t want the hurt to happen to someone else,” Kane said.