An average of 178,000 vehicles travel Arizona State Route 51 between the Loop 202 merge and the McDowell Road on-ramp each day – the majority of those bottleneck southbound around 8 AM mornings and northbound 5 PM afternoons.
On Thursday, August 26 at 5:15 PM, Pat and I inched northward through this broiling slow-and-go toward the carpool lane, which was stop-and-go.
“What the fuck? The carpool lane? Holy shit! It’s a dog!” Pat said, throwing the TrailBlazer SS into park. I mashed on the hazards and crawled across the backseat to open the door.
A white dog with a black eye sat trembling beside the Jersey barrier.
Pat crouched before him, softly calling to him over the bleat of horns and roar of wheels. If I get out of this car, I’m stepping into oncoming traffic, but if he bolts – he’s gonna get hit. Please go to Pat. Please go to Pat. Please go to Pat.
Pat lunged forward, scooped him up and rolled this bag of bones into the backseat. Within seconds we were underway, cruising at 60 miles an hour. I cranked up the air-conditioner and called our veterinarian, Dr. Jeffrey Brown at Scottsdale Ranch Animal Hospital. He agreed to stay late to see the dog.
A dog doesn’t end up in the middle of one of the busiest freeways in Phoenix at rush hour because his owner took a wrong turn on the way to Bible study.
