Last Friday night turned out to be a night we won't soon forget. It was mixed with good and bad. On the way to pick up our daughter, turning to go east on Forest Avenue, off Walnut Road, we spotted a black lab dog that was obviously lost roaming Forest Avenue. We stopped our car. So did two girls in a Jeep. We wanted to get the dog out of the street so that it would not get injured. What ensued after that was a long night of trying to keep the dog out of harm's way, only to have all of us almost killed by cars speeding along Forest Avenue in both directions and not heeding to all of our attempts to slow them down. We almost had the dog out of harm's way, but the dog was obviously already in pain and soaked from the rain that occurred earlier that evening. It kept walking, to where, we thought, it lived. We wanted it to get there safely.

After successfully stopping a car going westbound on Forest, another car, speeding along well over the speed limit, sped around the right side of the stopped car, almost hitting all of us, but hitting the dog at full speed, never stopping to look back or even braking. It was a dark car, maybe maroon in color, definitely a car and not a four wheel drive, and it probably now has a broken left headlight. We couldn't believe that the driver did not know he hit the dog, especially after the dog began to scream. A scream we know we will hear for a very long time. The dog was still running, only to be hit by a second car, speeding around the corner onto Forest Avenue west. That car finally stopped after he heard all the screaming.

People begin to come out of their homes, bringing blankets and trying to calm the dog down until the emergency clinic in Westbury came and took the dog with them.

The good of this story is that so many people cared. Sometimes we feel like outsiders in this community since we were not "born and raised in Glen Cove." But that night we were proud to be a part of a community that cared so much. Everyone wanted to help, everyone came together, and everyone tried to save the dog, obviously someone's pet. We cried together, felt its pain together, and opened up our hearts together. It made us glad to be a part of Glen Cove, knowing that people actually do care, and will open up their hearts and homes to help.

What did not make us glad was the driver of the first car. It was about 10:10 p.m. on Friday evening, April 19. The car was driving westbound on Forest, right before Kirkwood Drive. The driver was annoyed at the car that stopped, so they just sped around it on the right side. They hit the dog. They made it scream. They gave us the nightmares. We don't know how they can sleep, knowing that they are the ones who did this.

We understand that the owner was located, and did take the dog. But no further information would be given out to us. We would like for the owner to know that we all did what we could for the dog. We were all there with it, so it wasn't alone in its pain. We hope the dog is okay. If it survived its ordeal, we would like to know that. If the owner can't care for it, we would like to know, as we would be more than happy to take care of it. We have a black lab. So do a couple of other people who were out there helping that night, risking their own lives on that speedway they call Forest Avenue. Every time we see our own lab, we give her an extra hug. We will be extra careful that she doesn't get loose. And we will be extra careful when driving. It would be nice if everyone could learn that, because next time it could be a person they hit. Would they stop then and help? Or just keep on going?

This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but we know it affected us dramatically. It affected a whole bunch of other people as well. And we think that the people who stopped, who came out of their houses, need to be thanked for their help. It's what people think are only little things that actually turn out to be the ones that most affect you in the end. So even though we are not the owners of the dog, we would like to thank the people who were there with us for what they did. It's nice to know that people like that still exist in this crazy world.

Don Ferrer

Jacqueline Tecce