To not stop for a dead cat

[Myusername33]

I recently passed a very recently deceased cat at the side of a busy road when I was driving with my kids in the car, I didn’t stop because I wasn’t going to stop in a busy road and leave my kids sitting there while I picked up a dead cat. I later saw someone had put a post up about the dead cat on the local community fb page saying they had picked it up and taken it to the vet so the owner could be found but they were disappointed that not only had someone hit the cat and not stopped but also lots of people had driven past without stopping, the owner of the cat eventually appeared to say how devastated they were that someone had hit their beloved cat and not stopped.

Aibu to not stop and pick up someone else’s dead cat from the road? I actually think it pretty unreasonable to let your cat out to run around in the road and get annoyed at the person that hit it for not stopping, I’m sure they didn’t set out to run over the cat and it was an unavoidable accident. If I hit a cat I would stop if I could do it safely but my kids and my own safety would be a priority over someone else’s cat that shouldn’t have been on the road in the first place.

@TheGenealogist

Also I think what the mad cat women aren't seeing is that most posters are saying if they were the person to HIT the cat then yes, provided it was safe to do so, they'd stop.

But that's not the scenario, the OP drove past when the cat had already been hit, was dead, and the FB numpties were chastising all the drivers who drove past an already dead cat and didn't get involved.

Don't be so bloody patronising. I know exactly what scenario OP is describing. And I'd still stop.

YANBU to have not stopped. But maybe try and have a bit of compassion for someone who has just lost a much-loved companion, and understand that people who are devastated don’t always behave particularly rationally.

@TheGenealogist

Some cat people are really quite unhinged, aren't they?

All the ridiculous statements about it being like hitting a child and a member of the family.

It's not. It's a cat.

Our cats are members of our family. Though I recognise they are cats, not human and they are not my furbabies or anything like that.

They live with us, part of our lives, for 15+ years, we're responsible for their welfare - feed them, play with them, clean up after them, take care of them when they're ill or elderly. Family member.

If I could stop safely I would, if it was a dog OR a cat. I would like to think it would give the owners some comfort during a horrible time. I run a toad patrol in my village and always move the dead/dying toads that I couldn't reach in time off the road and place them into the pond, just to give them some dignity at the end. Doesn't cost me anything but my time and helps me to feel I bring some balance in a world full of people who don't give a shit about the environment or the living things in it. Many of them would have made it if it weren't for speeding drivers but I guess it's their fault too OP?

Ok what would you have done if it was a dog

I love the sound of Toad Patrol @CHIRIBAYA, that's a really nice thing to do.

There really are some nasty people on here.

When I was a child my cat was hit and killed by a car. I lived in a small hamlet where there was not a lot of traffic at all, maximum 10 cars a day but a lot of them sped through, the speed limit was 30 but people would go through 50+ so yes, sometimes it is the drivers fault.

I was absolutely devastated, he was my baby and I loved him. I was so grateful when someone (not the person who hit him) picked him up and brought him home.

I understand people don't like cats but some of these comments are disgusting.

This cat could have been someone's reason to get up in the morning. As a nurse when working on elderly wards particularly I have had many conversations with patients worrying about their animals as they give them a purpose and companionship. I dislike OPs cold tone and agree she probably ran it over herself.

Happened to me a few weeks ago on a country road in traffic
Couldn't stop but I managed to avoid poor puss

It wouldn't even occur to me to stop for a dead cat tbh unless I had hit it.

We have stopped before for an injured cat and dropped it off at the vets

I pulled over for a strangers dead cat recently.

At no point did I start to blame the owner for letting their car out, I just felt sympathy.

I don’t judge you for not stopping, but judging the owner for letting their car out… you come across as fairly horrid.

Sorry but a cat is not the same as a child!

I’d have stopped. It may have been still alive. And even if it wasn’t, I’d have taken it to a vet. For the owners, it’s devastating.

The person who hit the cat and didn’t stop is a total cunt.

This. Heartless bastards.

I understand people don't like cats but some of these comments are disgusting.

I agree, some really nasty people on this thread. So glad I’m not you!

I'd definitely stop if I hit it myself.

I probably wouldn't stop if I didn't hit it and it was obviously dead tbh. Although depends where it was. If it was my local town and I knew there was a vets nearby I might do.

I would stop if it was injured and still alive though.

I may or may not stop to pick up an already deceased cat - depending on safety etc.

I think you'd have to be a particular kind of stone cold to actually hit a cat and not even stop to check if it was dead?? I've had two cats killed on the road, both times the person who hit them stopped and contacted us. One of them was completely blasé about it, the other (a big burly highways maintenance chap) was in tears.

We didn't blame either of them, these things happen. Cats wander. But we were very grateful to them both for letting us know, its horrible not knowing what's happened to a missing pet. Worse finding out they've been killed but not knowing if they could have been saved had somebody stopped.

Poor cat If the driver who hit it knew they'd hit it and didn't stop that's awful (though maybe they didn't know?).

But no, I wouldn't even think of stopping for a dead cat. Sorry if that upsets anyone. I just wouldn't want to touch a dead animal in that situation, let alone put it in my car I do think it makes a difference if you have cats yourself though, I don't, so perhaps don't have the emotional connection to a random cat that a cat owner might.

I think not unreasonable as it isn’t law and someone will come along who doesn’t mind dead animals and deal with it. Hundreds of people could have passed and also did nothing. I rescue foxes but I’m still not collecting dead animals. It must be a new thing people expecting you to go out your way to do this when everyone else went by it too. I don’t know but I wouldn’t say your unreasonable

To expect anyone to do things for you is u reasonable. Not related to the cat but it is true and many people are frustrated in the world because they are expecting too much of human beings

Is it the parents fault if a child runs out in the road and get hits by a car?

If yes… does the law agree with you?

This thread is as zombified as the cat in the OP.

🤦🏻‍♀️