GONZALES, Texas - August 19, 2009 - It's one of every dog owner's worst fears: a life-threatening emergency occurs at home and you must race your dog to the vet. This very thing happened to Texas couple Michael Gonzalez and Krystal Hernandez on August 5^th, 2008.

Their three-year-old teacup Poodle, Missy began choking on food, vomited, then became limp. Her owners frantically rushed her to the nearest 24-hour vet clinic with Gonzales driving, but were pulled over by police for allegedly speeding at nearly 100 mph.

The emotional, frantic owner was met with comments from the officer such as "It's a dog, okay? You can get another one, relax." The couple waited about 20 minutes for a ticket to be written.

Tragically, Missy died while they waited. Police Chief Howard Williams was reported by the Express-News as saying “This was not our finest hour.”

In an interview with Good Morning America, Gonzales admitted that he was speeding. He also felt the situation was handled inappropriately, saying "I would just like to see the officer be held responsible for the way he treated us that night and his actions for what happened to Missy."

Yes, the owner was breaking the law and could have harmed another driver. I think we can all agree that it was dangerous. However, watching the video with the knowledge that Missy was in that car dying absolutely breaks my heart - this could happen to many of us! The officer even comments that it might have been different if it was a child choking. Well, the fact is that many of us dog owners regard our pets as children.

This is not meant to start a debate about pets vs. children, but to state that the owner's emotions were very real. Perhaps the officer could have followed them to the vet first, then written as many tickets as he saw fit (or even arrested the driver, if necessary). Or maybe they could have detained Gonzales and sent Hernandez with Missy to the vet. In one of those situations, Missy might have survived.