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?

The 'slice' bit is too much, I can understand they are upset but that level of threat is madness

I lost one of my cats to a car accident (house cat escaped during a bathroom refit, so he had no road sense, he'll just have run out, not their fault in all likelihood). Whoever hit him left him in the road, so by the time I found him, he was completely mangled, and some of him was stuck to the road. It was very distressing. You've done everything you could to minimise the distress to that family. You've done nothing on purpose. Report the threats to the police and perhaps turn off your phone for a while.

I was also going to say, this may not even have been their cat! I had a cat in my garden yesterday, definitely wasn’t mine as I’m terrified of cats!!! They might just be idiots who are enjoying frightening you. Personally, I wouldn’t have presumed it was their cat. But that’s by the by, report to the police.

Sometimes cats get run over, surely all cat owners know this is a hazard of owning cats when you live near a main road. Report these idiots to the police and don't blame yourself for what happened.

Definitely call the police- I would imagine they would have to react to the 'slice you' threats.

And then block the number. Did you leave any identifying details? Hopefully they are all mouth and no trousers, vile people.

It was the right thing to do to stop and try to find the owners, so sorry that happened.

Did you not attempt to brake?
@steff13....what a stupid thing to say.

Bet it wasnt even their cat!!! Cats do roam into other people's gardens.

You did the right thing! The general consensus from the comments on the post agree they'd never send nasty, threatening text messages, so please don't let it put you off doing the same again.

Also, did you leave your full name? Or can your Facebook profile be found through your phone number, or anything on Whatsapp? I don't want you to worry, but if there's a way of them finding out who you are I'd definitely call the police. If they threaten to 'slice' you, the police need to pay them a visit.

Go the police, provide them with the address, and see what happens

Don't block the number yet as the police may need the evidence.

Do they have your address or full name?

Absolutely report the threats to the police.

I think I would have knocked on other doors tbh.

You left their dead cat under a hedge & stuck a note through the door?

If you were that close to houses and gardens how fast were you driving? At 30mph and enough time to consider that swerving was too dangerous why didn’t you just brake?

Theyre really unreasonable for threatening you though.

I think you did the right thing. Imagine some Police officer telling a kid their parent was dead if you had swerved and hit an oncoming car. I'm sorry these people are being so vile.

You left their dead cat under a hedge & stuck a note through the door?

Exactly what any decent person would have done.

How is asking why she didn’t just brake a silly question?

She was alert enough to see it, she couldn’t have been driving that fast and had enough time to consider that swerving wasn’t an option before she reacted.

@Jellybeansincognito I was driving down a residential street at less than 30mph a couple of years ago and a cat ran out a gate and straight under my wheels, I had no time to brake but I knew I couldn't swerve into the other side of the road.

Or I say I had no time to brake, if course I hit the brakes but it made no difference the car still went under my wheel!

Sounds as though you did everything possible. Ignore the stupid comments about braking etc. These things can happen in the blink of an eye.

I hope you have reported their harassment to the police; you do not deserve that. Am sure you feel crap about running the cat over in the first place.

It is very clear in the highway code that you should not swerve to avoid animals if it could put you or other motorists at risk. You did exactly the right thing, OP.

Just a thought. By putting it under a blanket could they have thought it wasn’t dead when put under it? If so would a vet have been an option?
Not trying to minimise threats

Don't delete the messages, you will need to show them to the police. Awful as they are, I wouldn't block them either until you've reported it and ask if the police want to see the constant messages coming through. They sound unhinged.

The people messaging you are bullies texting from an unknown number.

Definitely report them

My cat was killed by someone in Dec last year. She took our dead cat to the vets for scanning and we were contacted. I am eternally grateful for for her good actions post accident and we sent her flowers and a nice cat mug. She was exceptionally kind, but what you did was good too....you attempted to make contact with the owners and you did the best you could at the time. You left a number and did what you could. The people are unhinged. Call the police.

Sometimes cats get run over, surely all cat owners know this is a hazard of owning cats when you live near a main road

We live on a single track road with passing spaces. Speed limit 30mph

The police are not interested in putting speed cameras up until there have been 3 deaths (only 2 so far)
Average speed of drivers using this road is 45mph.

Our cat got run over and killed by one of these maniacs.

If you can't break for something or someone that steps into the road you are going too fast.

The speed limit is a guideline not an aim.

Maybe I do drive like an old granny but in areas where there are houses you know the possibility of pets or children to run into the road is there so slow down to a crawling speed

Years ago it served me well. If I had been going more than the 10 mph I was doing I would have been unable to stop for the little girl who ran into the road

Many cats are like this - unpredictable. I say this as a cat lover. You did all you could. Some folks are unreasonable. It's too late now but most people would have dumped the poor animal and driven off.

By all means tell the police that you are being threatened. Hopefully they will calm down. Change your mobile number if you can.