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?

It's a reasonable question saucery. It's also one that's easily answered. I imagine vets would take in an injured cat but in terms of contract law, I suppose the person bringing in the cat may be liable. It would be good to get a clear answer on the point.

My cat was recently killed. I got a phone call from a walker just checking that someone (the driver) had called round to tell me- They hadn’t. They had clearly just told her they were going to come and tell me then gone on their merry way.

I was very grateful that she had taken the time to phone me. Several minutes later my son was driven home so would have seen his body at the side of the road.

It would be good if people would stop trying to dissuade others from helping an injured animal by banging on about some imaginary financial penalty.

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone

Saucery...it's not imaginary...I've just read an article that says some vets will ask you to pay a third. At the end of the day it could be a huge cost, up to a thousand pounds.

And saucery it's rather odd that you are telling people it's not true without really knowing for sure. Surely you would want people to know for sure one way or the other then they can make their own decision what to do. I'm not trying to tell anyone to not to take them to the vets? What an odd thing to say?!

Some vets will treat for free (or try and reclaim the cost from the cats owners) and some won't.

Our local vets say they will put down an injured animal for free but treatment needs to be paid for. I think they will scan for microchips also (but not sure because my dealings w them relate to wild animal road casualties.

Majority would do it pro bono. So no need for anyone to be alarmed or put off by your scaremongering
I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to take any injured animal to the nearest vet clinic. On the offchance it turned out to be one of your mega-mercenary practices I’d refuse to give any of my details and take it from there. Highly unlikely, however. I think you are getting a bit mixed up with injured wildlife treatment tbh.

Also...what if the person who ran the cat over, takes it to the nearest vet, which might turn out to be the most expensive vet in town and the owner didn't want them to, then sues the person who did that?

This pisses me off. Both of my cats have died this way. I would absolutely bloody stop and do everything in my power to contact the owner.

What if there was a national cat population explosion that led to twelfty-hundred injured cats each day for every man, woman and child in the country? That coincided with a National Vet Strike

I don't think they'd have a leg to stand on in terms of the owner then suing the person who took the cat to the vet.

But, tbh, I don't have pets and have nothing to do with the vets. I genuinely have no idea about the business around injured pets, vets and liabilities.

Also...what if the person who ran the cat over, takes it to the nearest vet, which might turn out to be the most expensive vet in town and the owner didn't want them to, then sues the person who did that?

Blimey that's a whole lot of overthinking right there.

Majority would do it pro bono. So no need for anyone to be alarmed or put off by your scaremongering

That's not what I've read. If vets do everything pro bono, their costs are massive. Not scaremongering just trying to get the facts and not cause lots of people to be stuck with unwanted bills.

I'd stop if was safe. I think it's the risk you take owning a cat, they do tend to run out in front of cars and it's not always safe to break. I've had a near miss but luckily the cat moved just in time. They're wild so no legal requirements to stop.

Saucery I am now going to have a sleepless night worrying about that happening.

Who said anything about them doing everything pro bono? Fortunately, there aren’t that many cat injuries taken in by people who have nothing to do with the cat, per vet, per day, so they don’t have to spend all their time not earning any money. Phew.

Jesus, saucery, is there any need?

My kitties are indoor (on the litter tray) I usually get flamed for that. But they're also both microchipped in case of an escape attempt. I really really hope that someone would call me. There's a charity in our area that you can contact if you find a wee cat and they'll come out and scan for a chip. Obvs if they were alive I'd take them to a vet.
We found a wee cat who had been hit but was very obviously no longer with us on Boxing Day, no chip but I posted to some local Facebook pages and they found his family, they were devastated.

Sorry SparklingBrook the OMG What If - ery is contagious.

About as much need as there is to spread alarmist bollocks that might see an injured cat left lying at the side of a road, teyem

I hit a cat at less than 20 mph on my way to collect DD from school. It ran out and under my back wheels. It writhed around in agony and then expired - it was agonising to watch and there was nothing I could do to help it. It had no ID and as we had no pets and DD lives in another town with Ex I had no clue where the nearest vet might be, let alone enough spare time to do research. I didn’t fancy carrying a dead cat about for DD (she was young) to witness. So I left the cat at the side of the road. Given the lynch mob mentality of our local Facebook group and some folk on here I might be tempted to just drive off if something similar happens in future. There was literally nothing I could do and I just felt awful.

You know, if you know it to be alarmist bollocks you could have just explained why that's the case in your initial posts without the sarcasm which made your position seem evasive.

I did, teyem but TabbyMumz seems determined to come up with more and more fanciful rubbish that is designed to make people think twice about getting a dead cat returned to its owner, a critically injured one painlessly put to sleep or a less seriously injured one scanned so the owner can decide what should be done. That’s just cruel. I’m not sure why they are doing it. —well I am but I’ll get deleted if I say it—

Well, I was one who alongside tabby had the temerity to ask who is financially liable for no other reason that I had no idea and, whilst it seems unlikely a vet would turn a cat away I still could see how, under the usual terms of buying service, tabby might be right. There's no secret dark reason for me posting beyond curiosity.