I’ve done everything I could...right?

[hmga90]

Something awful happened today- cat darted out in front of my car out of a garden on to a main road. Absolutely nothing I could do. If I swerved I would of hit the car coming in the other direction and naturally (as sad as it is/sounds) in that split second I would of rather harmed the cat then another human being or myself.

Anyway went and knocked on the door of the house the garden the cat came out of, and left the cat under a hedge covered by a blanket. Nobody answered the door, so posted a note explaining what had happened, apologising and left my number in case they wanted to contact me.

I’ve been inundated all night with abusive texts messages- how I’ve broken 3 children’s hearts, they will hunt me down and “slice me”. At least 20 of them, and countless phone calls off an unknown number. I’ve texted the number again expressing my apologises but that the messages are being taken seriously and will be reported to the police if they continue.

They are still texting to this moment- another has come through as I am typing this thread.

AIBU I’m ringing the police? I understand they are upset but surely this is extreme?

Do ring the police.

I don't think it could have been handled any other way really. They're being abusive and are probably on the hunt for money!

Yes, contact the police. I really don’t think you could have done more. It’s understandable that they are upset about their cat but not ok for them to threaten you like that.

Wow glad noone answered the door they sound crazy. Ignore messages and call police if continue. That is some serious threats.

Yes, ring the police. It was an accident you couldn’t have avoided. You could have just driven off, but instead did the decent thing, and are now being abused. No good deed goes unpunished, as they say.

Christ almighty talk about shoot the messenger 😕
these people are batshit bottom feeders 😕

Yes report them. You had no obligation to leave your details and they are very out of order. The threats to hunt you down and slice you are

I’d contact the police, so there is a record of the harassment.

From what I understand, you don’t even have to report killing a cat. So you have done the decent thing. Nothing more you could have done. It’s understandable that they’re upset, but it’s not justifiable to be so abusive and threatening to you.

I did the identical thing about 3 years ago, knocked on every door in the street, couldn’t find the owner. Felt awful but couldn’t be avoided.

Definitely call the police, they’ll knock on the door and tell them to wind their neck in. If I was the police officer I’d get them to delete your number on pain of prosecution.

Oh no! You do not deserve this abuse. I’m sorry they’re being this awful.

You are in no way at fault. You need to report these threats to the police asap.

Definitely go to the police, what they are doing is illegal under the communications laws.

Now you know why the poor cat was running out of their garden and throwing himself in front of cars. They must be hell to live with.

Ring the police . And fwiw, if someone did that for my cat after such a terrible accident , I would very grateful. And then get on with my grief privately with my family.

Did you not attempt to brake?

I'd report the abuse to the police. It's a risk you take when you have an outdoor cat, really. Unfortunate, but there it is.

@steff13 I'm sure op deliberately ran down the cat without breaking

Definitely contact the police, you don't deserve to be threatened, it was an accident.

Did you not attempt to brake?

What a strange question. Most people instinctively brake if there's an obstacle in front of them. OP said she couldn't swerve.

Not to mention the question implies she deliberately killed the cat when you can see from her actions post the cat's death that she isn't some rabid cat killer

Braking* ffs

I very very nearly ran over a small dog in the same way this weekend. I stopped and knocked on the door - the owners couldn’t have been more apologetic. OP it wasn’t your fault, you did everything you could. Can you block the number the messages are coming from?

I would also ring the police about this matter and block every number. Also make sure they can't trace you with Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp etc with your profile or picture.

You did all you could do and did a nice thing to get the cat and return it to the house.

On my phone I have the option to only receive texts and calls from numbers in my contacts, do you have that? I adore my cats and I'd grieve if one was killed but it's an accident.

My stepdad got knocked down and killed in December. The driver wasn’t speeding or anything and it was a tragic accident.
When I met the driver at the coroner’s court, I gave him a hug and consoled him and his wife as much as he did me and my family. Never did we think of threatening him etc.

If our cat got knocked down, we would have been so grateful someone acted as you did. You did the right thing and should speak to the police.

Contact police.

Someone ran over and injured my cat a few years ago and kindly brought her to the door, I was so grateful she stopped, it wasn’t the drivers fault at all but she was distraught.

Ring the police, that’s ridiculous. You didn’t mean to hurt the cat and you tried to do the right thing by letting them know.

They don't know where you live. I hope you didn't leave your full name. Block the number and forget it.

Police if you so wish, but what will it actually achieve? Stop answering the texts, they'll get bored shortly

When someone did the same to our cat years ago and took them to the vets to be identified I bought them flowers to thank them! Owners are crazy, hopefully will calm down but otherwise report.