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?

When Jacinda Ardern heard her cat had been hit by a car, she called the driver to apologise.

www.stuff.co.nz/national/114093497/confession-i-killed-prime-minister-jacinda-arderns-cat-paddles?cid=app-iPad

Oh you poor thing. You've done your best and to be treated like this is appalling. I don't know what the police could do. I can understand that the owners are upset. Can you not text them again and keep saying how sorry you are? You might get a reasonable response.

Could you have wrapped the cat in a blanket and box etc and kept it somewhere safe whilst leaving a note through their door asking them to call you about iht their cat!? Maybe, the way you announced this to them was extremely insensitive.

Under uk law, you now have to report the incident to the police anyway

Not cats. Dogs, cows etc. ie animals that their owners are supposed to have under control/contained. But cats are allowed to roam - they're free agents and their owners aren't responsible for their actions, so they're not reportable.

Nor - well at least in Scotland - do you have to report running into deer. Which I did a couple of years ago on some moorland. It was a Red Deer, a stag, just jumped up onto the road in front of me. Scarily big thing up close at 50 mph. I swerved, but whacked it so hard it took out one of my headlights. The deer ran off. I reported it - though it turns out I wasn't legally obliged to - and a gamekeeper came out to check. Found the deer in a distressed state and shot it.

OP, you did the right thing.

Donkeyhotay. Good Point!i would not have left my number just laid the cat on the ground . They would not have known who the good Samaritan was . That Way OP would not be getting the agro from the family that they are.

Report to police ASAP. Nothing unreasonable in what you've done - the opposite in fact.

I knocked a cat down 2 days ago and killed it. I could see in my rear view mirror it was in bits.

I was obviously sad that it had happened but I feel no guilty whatsoever and it happened on a main country road with no obvious address anywhere nearby.

The cat can out of undergrowth right in front of me when I was going at 50mph. Literally nothing I could do.

I believe cats should be let out rather than kept indoors but when you have a cat this can happen. It’s nobody’s fault, just one of those things.

OP, these people are just lowlifes. I would report their threats to the police because the threats themselves are crimes. And then block.

From the way the family are behaving, I wonder if the cat was committing suicide.

I think you’re very lucky they weren’t home. They sound like the sort of people who would have assaulted you in all honesty. Absolutely batshit.

From the way the family are behaving, I wonder if the cat was committing suicide.

This.

I'm shaking just reading this. It was an unavoidable accident and that alone will have really shaken you up and then this hateful abuse! I'm totally with @Pomgirl I too am very glad that they weren't at home when you called. You MUST contact the police. I'm sure they will do their best to advise you going forward, but I certainly wouldn't let this take over your life, as I'm pretty sure it's doing. A totally different situation, but some time ago, a neighbour lost her cat and put up posters, asked around the neighbourhood. I sent my two youngest children around the neighbourhood speaking to people and looking for her. We're all animal lovers. Over a week later my son was sat in his bedroom window and saw something beneath our tree in the garden. I went outside and it was their cat. We all had a good sob and I notified them straight away. The partner came and took the cat away in the box - but from the get go was really accusatory. From that moment on there were vicious rumours spread about us and they made me feel really judged and uncomfortable. I've never been so relieved when they moved. I was absolutely mortified, still am - and clearly the cat had just chosen my tree to die under! I feel your pain. Speak to the police and know that you have done everything you could. 'AmeriAnn you made me smile - I pity the poor puss too!

Hello OP a lot of people have invested in your plight, many offering good advise, in respect of this could you please update us and let us know the outcome or what, if any, actions you have taken Thank You
(Fed up of investing time in peoples problems/queries for it it to end unanswered)

To all cat owners on here, I can't touch cats (or any animal for that matter. Not even small ones) I can't do it and never have been able to.
Call it an intense phobia if you like. II have managed to avoid being around animals all my life.
This may sound strange to you but I honestly do not know what I'd do if a cat ran out in front of my car.
Tell me whatI should do.

Irrational phobia. Don't know where intense came from!