Words by Kathleen Blanks | As Told By GUNNER
Kathleen's truck following the accident.
"My name is Kathleen Blanks, and my husband Hollis and I train gun dogs. We were in a pretty serious car wreck this summer involving 3 trucks/SUVs. I am still in shock that those dogs made it out of that wreck alive, heck I'm shocked my husband and I made it out alive.
We were on our way to train dogs (only a quarter-mile away from the training grounds) and we had three dogs strapped down in the bed of my truck in two GUNNER crates.
As we were crossing an intersection, a Cadillac Escalade ran their red light and hit us on the passenger side, going about 70mph.
The hit was so hard it knocked my tailgate off, nearly ripping the whole bed of my truck off. Just see the photos for the impact. Because of the force, the kennels broke through their ratchet straps (they were not the Gunner straps) and flew out of my truck.
Photo of Kathleen's truck and the second SUV that hit them.
It was crazy. Literally my truck flipped over on the driver's side and landed on one of the kennels — and then we were hit AGAIN, sliding the truck off the kennel and directly into another truck.
Adrenaline kicked in when we came to a stop and we crawled out of my truck and immediately went to check on the dogs. We had one adult black Lab in one kennel, and two Lab pups in the second kennel.
Photo of Kathleen's truck after it was towed following the accident.
When the kennels broke through the ratchet straps (again, they were not the Gunner brand), they landed with such impact that the backup latches were compromised. I believe that is what caused the doors to come ajar — that's how bad this impact was. We had to go to the hospital, but all dogs were rounded up by good citizens and all three of those dogs were perfect... no broken bones, no gashes, no bumps, nothing. That's why I wanted to reach out and let you know how forever thankful we are for these kennels. They saved all three of these dogs.
Photo of River, Gabby, and Sprig with their kennels a few days after the accident.
I can't tell you how many times I thanked God, and the founder of GUNNER Kennels Addison Edmonds, after that car wreck.
We will never put any of our personal or client dogs in anything other than a Gunner. Thank you SO SO much for creating this perfect kennel. Again, there are no words to express my gratitude towards this company. Y'all are amazing. Thank you!"
