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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what is the best thing to do if you hit a cat with your car?

140 replies

wasonthelist · 06/06/2016 15:53

Prompted by a pitchforks and torches posting on a local FB group. It made me (honestly) wonder. If I hit a cat and killed it (or didn't) what to do. There are a few things - I haven't had any pets for more than 30 years, so I have no idea where the vets are - I could Google of course, but can you just take any random cat to the nearest vet?

In the olden days I heard tales of people putting injured animals "out of their misery" with a wheelbrace or something, but aside from being too squeamish, I'd worry that the cat could have been saved and that I'd be arrested.

I guess checking the cat for some ID tag would make sense, but not sure I'd fancy taking the body to an owner - judging by the FB posting I could see it going badly.

Can/should you phone Police (I know it's not required) - or would they just say not interested?

I started off thinking it was heartless to run a cat over and just drive off, but then thought I am not sure what I would do.

OP posts:
IABVU · 06/06/2016 15:55

reverse

EatShitDerek · 06/06/2016 15:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Floralnomad · 06/06/2016 15:57

Dead or alive just take it to the nearest vet you can find - if you are in an area you don't know knock on a door and ask where the local vet is - never 'put it out of its misery' ,I would imagine that could lead to prosecution and rightly so .

WeirdAndPissedOff · 06/06/2016 15:57

Hmm, it's a difficult one.
Definitely wouldn't just drive off, but police would not be interested.
Perhaps google the numbers of local vets, and give them a ring, then take it from there?
Failing that, if cat has an ID tag it's better to contact the owner than leave it.

If dead, I would contact vet or council - I know there's nothing to be done but if it's chipped at least then they can notify the owner.

NickyEds · 06/06/2016 15:58

I don't drive but if I did and hit a cat it would depend on how the cat was. If it was dead I'd move it to the side of the road and drive off probably. If it was injured I'd Google vets and take it to the nearest one.

Original poster
wasonthelist · 06/06/2016 15:58

Can you just take them to the nearest vet?

OP posts:
whois · 06/06/2016 15:58

I;d check to see if it had a tag with a numer to call. And that's it. If there's no tag with a number what else are you meant to do?

Sorry kitty - free range animals take free range road risk. Think I'll be cat proofing my garden when I get a cat to prevent squashed kitty.

wowfudge · 06/06/2016 15:58

You don't need to phone the police or indeed do anything - it's only if you hit a dog. If you were to hit a cat and it was still alive you could ring the PDSA, see if it has a collar tag, etc.

EatShitDerek · 06/06/2016 15:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

whois · 06/06/2016 15:59

knock on a door and ask where the local vet is

Oh come on! As if you would really do that.

If you hit a fox, what woudl you do? Its the same deal baically.

Original poster
wasonthelist · 06/06/2016 16:00

What if it's out of vet's hours (or are they 24/7 - like I said I haven't been to vets for 30+ years)

OP posts:
BaboonBottom · 06/06/2016 16:00

Nearest vet, as the previous poster says, dead or alive so they can hopefully let the owner know.
A lot of the time drivers don't realise they've hit one. It's rare it's a cat belt out in front, screech, thud incident.

tabulahrasa · 06/06/2016 16:01

Knock on doors to see if they recognise the cat...that's how I found the owner of the cat I hit.

NickyEds · 06/06/2016 16:01

Ha derek I was going to say back over it but lost my nerve!! Obviously a joke.

Froginapan · 06/06/2016 16:03

Take it to a vet

Floralnomad · 06/06/2016 16:04

I would definitely knock on a door and ask where a vet is , it's nothing like hitting a fox ,a fox is not somebody's pet .

BlossomCat · 06/06/2016 16:04

I have a cat that is prone to wandering off, he's been taken to a local vets, not ours, and the vets scanned him and contacted me. They were happy to reunite us Smile

Another time he went missing, the local cats home advised me to call the council to check if he'd been scraped off the road. They scan for microchips and were able to reassure me that he wasn't an RTA victim. ( he'd got too curious and became locked in a shed for ten days. That caused me a few grey hairs.)

SpunBodgeSquarepants · 06/06/2016 16:05

My dad hit a cat once, it died instantly. It had no collar on so he wrapped it in an old picnic blanket and kept it in the garage for a few days (this was a cold February), made up posters to stick on lampposts but no one claimed it. Buried it in the back garden.

namechangeparents · 06/06/2016 16:08

There is an enormous amount of vitriol on my local FB groups for people who don't stop when hitting a cat. However, I'm not sure I would stop if I were on my way to collecting my child from somewhere or to an airport/station to catch a plane/train.

In a way the law is back to front. Dogs should always be under control so in theory should never be run over. I suppose the law dates from when you had to have a dog licence. But cats are totally free range and are far more likely to be hit by a car.

GreenGoth89 · 06/06/2016 16:10

Please please please always take it to a vet! Regardless of being dead or alive - I have 2 that don't have collars because they pull them off but they're microchipped so at least I would know if they were killed or hurt, I would be heartbroken if they just went missing and I never got to know what had happened to them.

OurBlanche · 06/06/2016 16:10

www.gov.uk/report-dead-animal

I have hit 2 cats in 30 years. Once I stopped as I was on a lane, it was safe to do so and the chances were I could find an owner... didn't find the cat though!

The second one I didn't stop, rush hour on a busy road and no one else behind me slowed, so I assumed that, like the first, it had disappeared from view. I was not going to put myself and others in danger on the off chance.

I have also ignore pheasants and other game birds.

But I did stop when someones dog ran out in front of me... hazard lights went on and I waited for the owner, who was pelting down a lane, to come and get it... it had stopped and was trying to lick me to death through my window Smile

PotteringAlong · 06/06/2016 16:13

Depends on where you hit them. Stop if it's safe to do so but if it isn't carry on.

Original poster
wasonthelist · 06/06/2016 16:13

GreenGoth89

Are vets open 24/7 or would I need to store it somewhere? Earnest question - I have no pets so no idea.

OP posts:
Skippedthelightfandango · 06/06/2016 16:13

There was a man in Suffolk who ran over a cat 10 times after the first to make sure it was out of it's misery! True story sadly.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/4470598.stm

MyBreadIsEggy · 06/06/2016 16:18

My poor boy was run over and killed last year.
The lady who hit him was from the same village, so she removed his collar, took a photo of it and put it on the community Facebook page to see if anyone recognised it. I had put a post on that same day with a picture of my cat because he hadn't been home for a few days and someone linked the photo of the collar.
I thanked the lady for trying to find the owner, went and picked him up from the side of the road and buried him in my garden.