to think if you've hit and killed someone's cat in your car, you should stop and check for owner ID and contact them?

[Greensleeves]

My ds2 and his friends found a very recently killed cat at the side of the road yesterday. They contacted the owner and waited until she came to collect it. She was obviously very upset.

One of our cats was also killed on the road a few weeks ago. A pedestrian found him and took him to a vet, who contacted us (he was microchipped) but unfortunately he'd died by the time we got to him.

In neither case did the motorist involved stop and attempt to contact the owner of the cat they'd killed. I understand that cats running out into the road isn't necessarily the driver's fault, but if you've killed an animal, even if you don't think it's your fault, shouldn't you stop?

Legally they don’t have to but morally yes, they should. They’re probably scared tbh and drive off in a bit of a panic. Either that or they genuinely have no idea they hit a cat (possible in a very big car or van).

I agree with you but in some instances the cat is 'winged' by the car, and runs off only to succumb to devastating internal injuries later on, once the adrenaline has passed. Drivers probably think they only clipped the cat and it ran off into a bush etc, not realising it is mortally wounded.
It's not a legal requirement to stop for a cat as they are classed as wild animals in the eyes of the law, unlike dogs who are domesticated pets and as such, have 'owners'.

If an animal has a collar on with a phone number then any reasonable drive should stop and ring the owner. If the pet is still alive the owner could rush it to the vets. Only a heartless person would just drive away.

You should definitely stop. My cat was killed by a car 2 years ago and I was devastated.
It still haunts me that she died alone and was gone before i saw her.
The vet called me as someone found her next day.

I ran over a cat once. It was awful. I was only going about 20 miles an hour through the village where I lived but the stupid thing literally stepped out right under my wheel and I had no time to stop before I hit it. The owner’s house was only about five doors up from where I’d hit the cat, so I went to their door with the injured but still alive cat. I was distraught (I’m a massive cat lover). I explained what had happened and the fucking woman PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED ME on her doorstep. Her husband had to pull her off me.

I was only 18 at the time and blamed myself and thought I deserved it. Looking back now I wish I’d called the police on her.

Whackitup that's awful. You must have been completely traumatised

I saw a cat get run over once and the cat ran not in front of the car but underneath the middle of it, so was hit by the back wheels. Car driver was oblivious.

To put it crudely cats are so small and lightweight that it isn't like hitting a big dog or a deer. A driver might just think they'd gone over a little pothole/bump if anything?

Absolutely they should stop, my DH hit a cat he was distraught, we stopped and picked the cat up, it was still alive, fortunately the cat was near where it lived so after knocking on a few doors we tracked the owner down and were able to hand the poor cat over to them.

Greensleeves it was horrendous. Every now and again I’d thing about it and just feel really terrible. What made it worse was that as this woman was beating me up, a local neighbour walked past and I’d done babysitting for her in the past. Just mortifying. It must have looked so Jeremy Kyle. So a lovely dollop of public shame to add to the already massive guilt.

This happened 20 years ago and it sounds unbelievable but it’s only in the last couple of years - since I’ve been working through some other traumatic stuff from my past - that I’ve come to realise that woman was completely out of order. For nearly 20 years I believed I deserved it.

That is one reason why people don't stop and try to find an unknown owner:

fear of the owner's reaction, whether screaming, assault, or threats to sue (however impossible )

However, they should take the animal to a vet instead

My cat was hit just outside our house neighbours wrapped her in a blanket, and popped her in a box the man who hit her was very upset they were lovely it was v sad though and I had to go to night shift afterwards leaving my very upset kids.

I hit a dog once, it came running right in front of me I couldn’t avoid it but broke and clipped it, kids in car etc dog was ok owner was nice and the dog bit me, was such a shame it was fine but all got a terrible fright - I was pregnant too. Cats often run off after getting hit so not always possible to trace them or owners if not chipped or have a collar on

You should as a bare minimum take the animal to a vet if you don’t want to face the owners.
One of my neighbours ran my 13 yo cat over and the dickhead just left him at the side of the road. I live in a quiet cul de sac with hardly any traffic, but this particular neighbour is well known for speeding. I loathe him, I’m not sure what I would have done if he’d knocked tbh, but I think I could muster a bit more respect than I have for the odious twat at the moment.

Yes, we did this. The poor cat chose to dash as we were going past, it went between the wheels and we could not have prevented it.

We knocked on doors and found the owner and apologised. They were sad but definitely appreciated our doing the right thing.

Unless they saw the cat run out i cant imagine drivers would know it was a cat. Maybe a pothole, maybe some rubbish in the road.

Yes, as long as it’s safe to do so I think you should.

I’m so sorry for your loss

Legally when a dog gets run over, you have to report it as they are classed as domestic animals.
Cats are still classed as wild animals so legally you do not need to report it if you run one over,
I am not particularly a cat lover but would never see them come to harm. I work in public transport and so I have heard there is a campaign to change the law

Please see - www.catsmatter.org/

If you let your cat roam free because its a wild animal, then you need to accept it may die on the side of the road like a wild animal.

I would support a change in the law that prevented it being acceptable for cats to roam freely. Other than that I'd treat them like I'd treat any wild animal (vet if still alive, left if not).

Barbarian

Pet cats are domesticated, not wild, animals.
And wandering beyond the threshold does not render them "wild" either.

Most cats are chipped nowadays so taking it to a vet is the best thing.
We live on a road with a 20mph speed limit near to a primary school.
Most people obey it but there are a few idiots who treat it like a race track.
Thankfully my present cat is scared of loud noise and doesn't go further than our garden or neighbours gardens.
I once found an unneutered ginger tom cat who had been killed. He was still warm. I took him to the vet but no chip.
Very sad.

I have found cats that have been run over a few times. I actually keep a cardboard box/binbag and gloves in the boot now.

I took them to the vets for scanning and let them do the rest.

Hopefully the owners will find comfort in the fact someone cared and they know why their pet has not returned (the agony of not knowing is horrible).

Any reasonable moral person would at least make an attempt to do something providing it was safe to stop etc.

OP I'd also be nervous of contacting the owner in case they got angry!
I'd contact vet or something, though, if I hit a cat, not just leave it.

Yeah, you should stop and check if the cat is ok, look for ID etc...
Your DS sounds like a really decent person doing what he did, not everyone would.
And sorry to hear about your own puss.

There’s no obligation to stop so people aren’t doing anything wrong if they don’t. I’d probably stop and see if there was anything I could do or any ID assuming I knew I’d hit it of course.

It would be the decent thing to do yes, but not all people are decent. I used to know a "man" who used to boast about how if he saw a cat on the road he would deliberately try to run it over because he hated cats so much.

I've had one man knocking on our door at 1am before because he'd hit a cat outside and was trying to find an owner and our light was on.