On February 17, 2003, on Highway No. 225 in Kagoshima prefecture, a local salaryman(51) was struck and killed by a minivan while cleaning up the remains of his dog who had been run down just hours earlier.
The dog was hit when the victim's wife had taken it for a walk earlier in the evening. During their walk, the hound had mysteriously dashed into the middle of an intersection and stopped, refusing to budge until it was killed minutes later.
According to local police reports, the man headed out at about seven thirty with garbage bag to retrieve his dog's corpse. The driver of the minivan, a twenty-six year old company employee saw him and threw on the breaks a second too late.
Five years earlier, while crossing at the same intersection, the victim's mother was also killed by an oncoming car, and her own dog 'Chibi,' followed her a few days later while crossing the same street.
Same spot, November 20, 1998. A local man and his 83 year old mother were run down and killed while going to visit the graves of their relatives. A week later, their two dogs 'Chibi' and 'Love' were hit and killed at the exact same intersection.
Moral: Dog owners with elderly parents should stay the Hell away from highway 225.