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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think, if you run over a cat, you don't just dump it on the pavement and fuck off

218 replies

inigomontoyahwillcox · 18/08/2021 18:28

God, it was awful.

DD (13) and I were just behind a car that ran over a cat, the poor little thing had a serious head injury (completely unsurvivable) and was convulsing in the middle of the road.

The driver and her passenger got out of their car, picked up the cat and unceremoniously dumped it on the pavement. I pulled up behind, got out to see to the cat (it very quickly passed away, fortunately) and asked if they were going to take it to the vet - the bloke said "I've got asthma" and they buggered off!

Fortunately another woman who was behind me also stopped and she offered to take the poor wee thing to the vet to see if it was microchipped as DD was extremely upset by this stage (she adores cats and it was a nasty thing to witness). So her and I wrapped it's body in DDs (knackered) sleeping bag which I happened to have in the boot and she took it.

I'm now sitting in the car whilst DD has her trampolining lesson and am a little bit traumatised to be honest! And a bit bloody angry. I hold no grievance towards them about hitting a cat - shit happens, and it's one of the things you learn to accept is a possibility if you have an outdoor cat (which we do). But to leave a dying cat on the pavement after you've hit it is, I think, despicable.

OP posts:
bagelsandoranges · 18/08/2021 19:01

Its sad that the life of another sentient being means nothing to some people because they deem them as incapable of understanding like humans do. They live and breathe the same world and have the broadly the same emotions as us!

bagelsandoranges · 18/08/2021 19:05

@User135792468

If you hit and seriously injure an animal, you have a moral responsibility to ensure it gets treatment. If it dies, then take it to a vet. Asthma is no bloody excuse, if you can’t have the cat in your car, then ring someone who can. Or drive more carefully! Those who would leave it are vile and karma will come back to haunt you.
Completely agree. The law argument is disturbing, I mean who thinks like that? Recently I read that the ability to empathise is genetically determined and very low in certain people.. So have to assume some people are just naturally dicks and the concept of caring about animals is just way above their head.
Frazzledmummy123 · 18/08/2021 19:07

OP, I hope you and your daughter are ok Flowers . Yanbu, that guy sounds awful and do thoughtless that all he cared was getting to where he was going when a living creature was dying in front of him. Some people's attitudes to animals shock me Sad

RobinPenguins · 18/08/2021 19:07

You did a good thing. Sorry you had to deal with it. One of our cats was killed by a car in our street and we came home from a day out to find her on the side of the pavement, where she’d been left. It wasn’t a great way to find out.

Frazzledmummy123 · 18/08/2021 19:08

*so thoughtless

Lockheart · 18/08/2021 19:08

@User135792468

If you hit and seriously injure an animal, you have a moral responsibility to ensure it gets treatment. If it dies, then take it to a vet. Asthma is no bloody excuse, if you can’t have the cat in your car, then ring someone who can. Or drive more carefully! Those who would leave it are vile and karma will come back to haunt you.
There's no such thing as karma.

Unfortunately not everyone likes cats (or dogs for that matter) and asthma can be quite serious.

Sometimes it doesn't matter how carefully you're driving - if a cat runs in front of your car within the stopping distance, even the most careful and aware driver can't alter the laws of physics.

tintodeverano2 · 18/08/2021 19:11

@DrManhattan

Asthma is a bullshit excuse- doesn't stop him ringing someone who can come and help.
Who would you ring?
LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 18/08/2021 19:17

Awful.

One of cats was hit my a car 11 years ago. I am so grateful to the person (l don't think it was the driver) who took our little podger to the vet. Otherwise we might never have known what happened to him, which would have been so much worse because he was daft as a brush and our imaginations are wild.

So thank you for doing that for the cat family.

SusieBob · 18/08/2021 19:21

I couldn't personally give a fuck if you miss an appointment or have "allergies", if you hit an animal and leave it to die you are a dickhead.

WaltzForDebbie · 18/08/2021 19:23

As someone who has to go to regular medical appointments with 3 of my kids I wouldn't stop if it meant them missing an appointment. One of my kids nearly died last week so we're not talking about unimportant routine appointments. So, no I might not stop depending on the circumstances.

TheGumption · 18/08/2021 19:27

@SusieBob

I couldn't personally give a fuck if you miss an appointment or have "allergies", if you hit an animal and leave it to die you are a dickhead.
Where does is stop? Are you still a dickhead if its a small deer? A rabbit? A squirrel? If not, why are those animals less important? It's not about the cat is it. It's about how the humans feel about the animal.
Sirzy · 18/08/2021 19:28

Also some roads sadly simply aren’t safe to stop on.

HungryHippo11 · 18/08/2021 19:28

Who would you ring?
Good question. I am allergic to cats so wouldn't pick one up and put it in my car. Should I ring my husband and ask him to leave work to come and move a dead cat? My mum who lives miles away? My friends who are either working or have two kids they would have to put in the car to come and meet me? My neighbours who I barely know?

Lockheart · 18/08/2021 19:29

@SusieBob

I couldn't personally give a fuck if you miss an appointment or have "allergies", if you hit an animal and leave it to die you are a dickhead.
Even if you hit it on a motorway or if there's nowhere safe to stop?
Knittingupastorm · 18/08/2021 19:31

@SusieBob

I couldn't personally give a fuck if you miss an appointment or have "allergies", if you hit an animal and leave it to die you are a dickhead.
There’s no need to put “allergies” in speech marks as if you don’t think they actually exist.
TractorAndHeadphones · 18/08/2021 19:32

Hmm I’m in two minds here.
On one hand I’d expect them to show some remorse - they hit a living thing. I’d be beside myself.
However at least they stopped to move it to the side of the road.

As pp pointed out it has nothing to do with the dignity of the animal. It’s about humans. Plenty of people would get het up about pets but happily consume animals (and feed their pets animals) that have been reared and killed in inhumane ways.

They could probably have tried contacting the nearest vet and informing them that there was a cat but I’m at a loss to what else they could have done if they couldn’t take it to the vet

Whatinthelord · 18/08/2021 19:32

I’m by no means in the biggest cat lover…in fact I really quite dislike cats as a pet. However if I knocked one over I’d feel terrible. I’d hope I’d be able to take it to a vet so the owner would at least know.

I’ve got to be honest as well though that I think SOME owners also need to be more sensible. I’ve got a friend who lives near several very busy roads. She’s had and lost about 4 cats to car accidents. Why she keeps getting more cats is beyond me.

freelions · 18/08/2021 19:32

Whilst I appreciate a dying animal is always a grim thing to witness, you pointed out that the injuries were unsurvivable so there is not a great deal that can be done other than removing the body from the road (which he did) to avoid it being hit by further vehicles

Assuming it was a residential area and not in the middle of nowhere then news tends to travel very quickly within a community if a dead pet is found so I'm not convinced that the owner would be located any quicker by taking the body to a vet than by leaving it close to where the accident occurred (but off the road)

Knittingupastorm · 18/08/2021 19:34

@Sirzy

Also some roads sadly simply aren’t safe to stop on.
That’s true, I wouldn’t just stop on a busy dual carriageway with no hard shoulder.
CirqueDeMorgue · 18/08/2021 19:34

As pp pointed out it has nothing to do with the dignity of the animal. It’s about humans. Plenty of people would get het up about pets but happily consume animals (and feed their pets animals) that have been reared and killed in inhumane ways.

I don't disagree with you OP but this really is a perfectly fair point.

Wimowehwimowehwimowehwimoweh · 18/08/2021 19:34

Someone hit my cat and shoved him on the pavement.

I got a phone call saying ‘I think someone’s just been to see you about your cat’…..they hadn’t.

The call was from a lovely lady who had seen the accident and, who the driver had told, they would pop round and see me to let me know. The driver had just buggered off but I am eternally grateful to that lady.
I was able to go and pick him up, another 5 minutes and DH would have driven past him with DC in the car and that would have been a horrible way for them to find out.

PeterCorbeau · 18/08/2021 19:34

It's shitty behaviour. Even if you have asthma, it doesn't stop you being a compassionate human being and trying to find someone to help you out. Honestly think people who hit someone's pet and don't seem to give a crap must have something wrong with them.

Whatinthelord · 18/08/2021 19:35

@WaltzForDebbie

As someone who has to go to regular medical appointments with 3 of my kids I wouldn't stop if it meant them missing an appointment. One of my kids nearly died last week so we're not talking about unimportant routine appointments. So, no I might not stop depending on the circumstances.
This is a good point. We have no idea where this guy was off to or what his personal circumstances are. He might simply be a duck head who didn’t care or he might have been someone with somewhere important to be or lots of other stuff going on.
Trinacham · 18/08/2021 19:37

If it's alive, yes, wrong to leave it.

If dead though, there are occasions where people can't stop, ie driving to work with no time to spare. They should at least stop and move it to the kerb of course.

NotMyCat · 18/08/2021 19:37

People should always stop if you can, and move the cat to the side of the road if you can't get it to a vet or do anything
It means that when people like me go out to collect and get the cat scanned for a chip to try and reunite with owners that there is something left to scan. Also we take to the vet or scan because some councils collect the cat and dispose of them without checking for a chip and owners are left with no closure (there is a law being debated about this at the minute)