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.

I once saw someone hit a cat and drive off. I pulled up and a couple walking past also stopped. By the time we got to it it was writhing in pain and died within a minute. The local shop owner gave us a box, I used picnic blankets to wrap it, and I took it to the local vet.

The owner asked for their thanks to be passed on to me as they were glad they had closure.

My daughter was with me at the time. Yes she was late for her dance class and yes it was horrific for her to witness the whole incident. But we have cats. She learned about compassion and that animals feel pain like humans do.

She said to me later that she hoped someone would do the same if that had been one of our cats.

[quote mag2305]@Sparklingbrook you're right. The uncaring comments on here are luckily not shared with people on fb community groups who often show compassion for a dead/missing animal. Often cats.

Maybe we can assume that some of these mumsnetters are the no pets types.

Animal lovers vs non animal lovers[/quote]

I am a 'no pet type' because I do not want to deal with an unwell/injured/dead pet. It bothers me a lot because I absolutely love cats but I am adult enough to understand my want for a cat does not override my ability in dealing with that kind of thing. Of course if I hit an animal I would stop, I would do what I had to do, but otherwise I would continue my journey as I was. There is not much I could do for an already dead animal that I had no responsibility for. I am an animal lover but I am realistic when it comes to what I can and cant cope with so I make the responsible decision not to own a pet.

@mag2305 but it's not about animal lovers Vs non animal lovers is it
It's about respect
And I'm not even talking about stopping at the minute. I'm taking about the vile unnecesary comments on here
They have no respect or what to hurt people because otherwise there is literally no reason to decide to comment with some of these

I might start a thread about something I don’t do at some point today. If that’s the thing now.

@Sparklingbrook

I might start a thread about something I don’t do at some point today. If that’s the thing now.

haha

@Sparklingbrook, puts thinking cap on

@Sparklingbrook the thread isn’t about how OP didn’t stop it’s about how all the FB social justice warriors are castigating people who drove past.

The person who should face a driving ban or at least points on their licence for not stopping is the person whose car hit the cat. The law should be changed and cover any animal, not just the current ones.

[quote CastawayQueen]@Sparklingbrook the thread isn’t about how OP didn’t stop it’s about how all the FB social justice warriors are castigating people who drove past.[/quote]
The thread is titled 'To not stop for a dead cat' and in the first post the OP asks: "Aibu to not stop and pick up someone else’s dead cat from the road?"

[quote mag2305]@Sparklingbrook you're right. The uncaring comments on here are luckily not shared with people on fb community groups who often show compassion for a dead/missing animal. Often cats.

Maybe we can assume that some of these mumsnetters are the no pets types.

Animal lovers vs non animal lovers[/quote]
I have compassion for the cat. I will stop for dead wildlife - marsupials may have joeys that need rescuing. I just don't have much sympathy for the "loving pet owners" that allow cats to roam all over the country and get themselves into trouble.

@newnortherner111

The person who should face a driving ban or at least points on their licence for not stopping is the person whose car hit the cat. The law should be changed and cover any animal, not just the current ones.

That's ridiculous. If the cat dives onto the road and the car is travelling at the speed limit it's a nonsense to say the driver should be prosecuted.

I live very rurally and there are always dead animals around, mostly pheasants, badgers and foxes but probably cats as well. It's what happens when animals run into the road. Sometimes the driver may not even be aware.

It's a risk owners take if they don't confine their cats to their property. I'd notify the authorities if I saw an injured animal but I wouldn't pick up a dead one.

I don't care about children personally but I would stop if I hit one!

I'm sorry but these comparisons are ridiculous! It would be A CRIME for you to not stop if you hit a human being. Also, the OP did not hit the cat, it had already been hit.

I know that many people view their pets as children/members of the family, but the law doesn't. And yes I know that there are animal protection laws, but I'm speaking in reference to this specific incident.

Reporting the hitting of a cat to the police isn't even required according to the Road Traffic Act.

Well there's work to get put into law so hopefully in the near future it will happen

@newnortherner111

The person who should face a driving ban or at least points on their licence for not stopping is the person whose car hit the cat. The law should be changed and cover any animal, not just the current ones.

That's ridiculous

@purpleme12 I was just going to post it looks like it may become law to stop if you hit a cat
I collect deceased/injured/stray cats to take to the vet so yes it's v common that people don't stop
I would say even if you can't take to the vet, if you're able to stop and move the cat to the side of the road/pavement please do because it saves a lot of trauma for the owners and the person who does pick it up
Also, NEVER bury a dead cat that isn't yours

@purpleme12

Well there's work to get put into law so hopefully in the near future it will happen

And that's fine, but if it's to fit in with the current law around other animals, it's still only that the person hitting it reports it to the police. There is no legal requirement for them to stop, move it or take it for help.

And again, this doesn't apply to OP as she didn't hit the cat.

Will it's a start. A step forward

I didn't say it applied to the OP did I?

I'm not sure what all these comments are about people not agreeing with cats going outside.
I've had several rescue cats over the years and the rescue charities are more keen if you have a garden or 'catio' for the cat to access and more importantly, that you don't live on a crazy busy road. Plus, keeping them in overnight is sensible. If you have to keep your cat indoors (e.g. FIV or live in a flat) that's different or you prefer to have indoor cats, that's fine. But those of us who have cats and let them out in the garden (which is likely the majority of cat owners) are not irresponsible or unloving for doing so. Cats naturally want to be outside some of the time.

@Sparklingbrook

Re dogs. I get that you have to stop/report by law. If the dog was dead then I think I could get out and ring the police or whatever you have to do. If it was injured and still alive and likely to bite me out of fear I'm not so sure I'd be getting out of the car to do it.

Exactly, this is the reality. You may well get bitten, the animal may uribate, defacate in your car from fear, the cat I helped was bleeding profusely. I say this as a cat owner too no I wouldn’t let my kids be involved with that - it’s not all lovely and comforting.

It would be the wrong thing to bring the law on reporting dead cats killed by cars into line with dogs. They are completely different.

Dogs must legally be kept under control and that is why they are reportable, a dog being hit by a car must be reported is because it might be an offence has been committed, it is not because doggies are more important and so their more loving and deserving owners can get closure.

I will support reporting cats hit by cars if it is for the same reasons of liability as dogs. But of course that won't, and shouldn't happen because they are different animals with different needs. Cats are allowed to free roam and there are advantages and risks associated with that, if you don't accept those risks don't have a cat.

Obviously if it can be done safely no animal, pet or wild, should be left injured and in pain.

Poor wee soul, I cried my eyes out. In my eyes it's it's same as driving past a dead human.

You need a bit of help perspective

I'm a cat lover but there is no way i'd expect anyone to stop on a road and put themselves and others in danger to pick one up even if it was my beloved cat.

I would only stop if it was safe to do so. We don’t have young kids so there would be no worries about leaving them either. I don’t think you did anything wrong.

Some horrible bloody people on here !!

I will support reporting cats hit by cars if it is for the same reasons of liability as dogs.

I support reporting cats hit by cars because it's the compassionate thing to do. No ifs or buts.

It really shouldn't have to be law but sometimes people need a little push to do the right thing..

Thank you Millymoo for being a decent, caring person