CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – A Chicopee woman contacted Western Mass News after losing her service dog in a hit-and-run over the weekend. She is now raising concerns about speeding in the city.

Losing this pet is devastating, but the owner we spoke to is also concerned about what can be done to ensure something like this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Heartbreak for Chicopee resident Alyssa Castonguay after her emotional support dog, 3-year-old Jack Russell Terrier Watson, got loose and was struck and killed by a car in front of her home on Clarendon Avenue Sunday morning .

“I ran outside, my dog ​​was lying at the end of my driveway, barely breathing, and within two minutes he was dead,” she told us.

She shared video from her ring camera showing the blue Nissan Rogue responsible, which Chicopee police referenced in a report saying:

“The vehicle passes his house and as it does so you hear a loud ‘cry’ from a dog and then you see a dog limping away from where the vehicle just passed. »

Castonguay told Western Mass News the driver was going faster than the 25 mph speed limit and did not stop after hitting her dog.

“There was absolutely no stopping, no slowing down or anything at all, he just kept going without any falls.”

Today, Castonguay worries about the consequences of speeding on other members of the community and wonders: “What if it was a child?

She hopes Watson’s tragic death can be a wake-up call for the city to regulate speeding, especially on side streets.

“They use it as a means of racing. It’s horrible and the effects are devastating.

We have reached out to Chicopee Police for more information, but have not yet received a response. Castonguay told us he was told police had identified the driver who would face a fine.

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