TLDR- I almost hit an unrestrained dog and yelled at some kids.
I was driving this morning, going about 20mph (school zone) and I observed three kids (two teenagers and one about 9 yo) walking on the pavement with a loose dog running around near them. I assumed it was theirs. The next moment this dog darted out into the road and I had to emergency brake to avoid hitting it. It was so close to going under the wheel of the car.
If I hadn't been going so slowly, and hadn't already been aware of them on the side of the road, I would 100% have hit it. It was extremely close as it was.
I immediately had a flashback to a couple of years ago, when a loose dog got dragged under my tyre and unfortunately I had to watch it die before alerting the owners, which was a very traumatic experience that left me shaken for days. This, combined with the fact that I had just had to emergency brake (jarring my neck, which was now in spasms) left me in a very emotional state. I was shaking.
I parked up outside the school (due to pick up kids from activity) and hopped out of the car. The kids were coming towards me and now I doubted whether the dog was actually theirs- when I had braked, I had honked my horn and gestured 'what are you doing??' at them, while the dog continued to run across the road towards some pedestrians on the other side. They seemed completely unconcerned and had made no attempt to recall the dog.
I approached them, intending to apologize for honking and gesturing if the dog was not in fact theirs, but wanting to address them if it were, as their nonchalance was infuriating and I wanted to impress upon them how close I came to killing or seriously injuring the dog.
I hurried towards them and called out, 'Is that your dog, or is it just following you?'
'No, it's our dog,' the oldest of them replied casually.
That's when I lost my temper. I shouted.
'Do you realize I almost hit your dog!?'
'Yeah, sorry.'
'Well, it's not acceptable to have your dog running around like this! You need to have him on a lead!'
No response other than muttering and a shrug. I was getting more furious.
'You seem completely unconcerned that I almost turned your dog into a pancake!'
'Well, maybe cause it's not mine or hers, it's his,' he gestures towards the youngest child.
'I don't care! You are responsible for the dog and you need to have it under control! Have you ever seen a dog get hit?! I can tell you it's not a pretty sight!'
I then turned and stormed off.
I wonder if I was unreasonable for shouting at these kids. I just wanted them to understand how dangerous it was, so they would hopefully restrain the dog and avoid it being inevitably hit. But I feel that I was unduly emotional because I flashed back to the other dog I hit. I felt the wheel go over it's body, watched it going through death spasms with it's back half paralyzed and I had to stand by while the owners wailed and cried over the dead dog, then I had to help lug the dog's huge body off the road. Other details about how the dog looked I don't care to recall.
But I'm feeling guilty for absolutely losing it on these kids. I can't even remember the last time I've lost my temper on someone like that, so I feel quite surprised at myself and shaken up.
Was I unreasonable?