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

[inigomontoyahwillcox]

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.

(For the record, I have indoor-only cats)

Who would you ring?

Maybe they had nobody to ring - but I would certainly show some bloody sympathy for the creature before jumping in my car, like, maybe, you know, asking another member of the public if they could assist?

The driver was being guided by the man (her passenger), I think maybe she was in shock (trying to be generous here), but she didn't utter a word and was scurried back into the car by him.

I've just remembered something, sorry - no trying to drip feed - just things coming back to me, I'm sure I saw him drop a fag and stub it out on the road. Doesn't give much credibility to his asthma claim - arsehole.

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

It was alive when they left.

I can genuinely only think of a handful of occasions where I would have been totally unable to stop and go out of my way for 20 mins or so if I'd hit and killed someone's beloved pet (regardless of whether it was avoidable or not). If I had to be 20 mins late somewhere, so be it. I was late for work when I hit a deer once (or the deer hit me, if anyone has seen Gilmore Girls!). It was injured and fell down at the side of the road, and I waited until help came for it. It's not like I'm hitting animals every day of the week - I've hit one once in 20 years of driving.

I wonder if this is the same reasoning behind those stories of people who fall over or become ill and spend 10 mins lying on the ground with people walking past them? Everyone is in such a hurry with their important lives, apparently...

Yanbu. That must have been really traumatic to witness. I hope your DD isn’t too badly affected by it.

Thankfully I’ve never actually seen a cat being hit but I’ve picked a few up afterwards that have already died. It’s upsetting that so many people drive past and half the time just leave them in the road to be driven over again. It’s someone’s loved pet and even if you don’t like cats, show some empathy to their human family.

if you can’t have the cat in your car, then ring someone who can.

Such as? Hypothetically, say I had an urgent hospital appointment I absolutely couldn’t miss today, I wouldn’t have had anyone who I could ring who would come out and pick up a dead cat for me. DH can’t drive due to a medical condition, PILs are away, parents live far away, friends are either at work or at home with young kids. I could (and would, in this hypothetical hospital appointment scenario) ring a vet, but that’s all.

@DrManhattan

Asthma is a bullshit excuse- doesn't stop him ringing someone who can come and help.

Who exactly are you supposed to ring in this situation?

@inigomontoyahwillcox

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

It was alive when they left.

I know, I read that.

I'm saying it is wrong to leave a cat alive. It is not if it is dead..

So basically, they shouldn't have left it, no!

I've had some thoughts about cats this week after finding another one eating from my food waste bin that was put out for collection. The last time a cat had been eating my Christmas turkey leftovers that had been stored in my garage for at least two weeks - I haven't seen that cat since.
I grew up rurally and we had many animals including cats. Since I left home, I have lived in cities and suburbs and I cannot understand people who leave cats to roam around these environments; there are so many dangers and poisons they can encounter. I feel very sorry for domesticated animals who have come to harm accidentially or otherwise, but I won't be placating the owners who have allowed this harm.
Cats have a right to roam freely for a reason.

I once witnessed the car in front of me hit a cat and just drive off without even stopping. Poor little thing was convulsing in the road, but by the time I’d managed to pull in and get to it, it was gone.

I picked it up and put it in the grass. It was just outside a house so I knocked to see if she knew who’s it was, it was hers. It was all pretty traumatic tbh. Another chap who was out walking his dog and I wrapped it in a blanket so she wouldn’t have to do it. The poor little cat was a bit of a mess, and put it in her front garden.

I couldn’t believe anyone would hit a cat and just drive off without even so much as moving it out of the road, let alone make an attempt to find the owner or take it to the vets. It’s disgusting.

@Knittingupastorm

if you can’t have the cat in your car, then ring someone who can.

Such as? Hypothetically, say I had an urgent hospital appointment I absolutely couldn’t miss today, I wouldn’t have had anyone who I could ring who would come out and pick up a dead cat for me. DH can’t drive due to a medical condition, PILs are away, parents live far away, friends are either at work or at home with young kids. I could (and would, in this hypothetical hospital appointment scenario) ring a vet, but that’s all.

If you haven’t got any friends or family to help then yes, a local vets will usually pop down if they can spare the staff. Alternatively post on the local community social media page - there’s usually a kind hearted soul who will pick them up to take to a vet.

It’s a bit macabre but there’s also a Facebook group called ‘deceased cats UK and IRL’ who have thousands of volunteers who will go and collect if you make them aware.

At the minimum please move them out of the road so their owner has some closure and a chance to say goodbye.

If I really, honest to god had no time because I was doing something so utterly important and the cat had definitely passed away, I would:

See if someone else driving past could assist
Call a local vet
Post on a local FB group asking for assistance

If the cat was alive, I'm not going anywhere till someone else is on the scene and able to assist. If it's totally rural, then I'll pick the cat up and just have to be late. I'm not leaving someone's pet alive in agony because I have 'an appointment'.

@inigomontoyahwillcox

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

It was alive when they left.

But you said the injuries were unsurvivable - so it would have been dead by the time anyone got to the vet, wouldn’t it?

I don't like animals (& I don't drive so I'll never be the one who hits one with a car) but if I was a driver I'd stop to check on the cat if it was still alive because it is an animal & I'd prefer it didn't suffer.

I wouldn't give a damn about the owners feelings though.
If they cared about the cat that much, it wouldn't be out on a busy road.
I have zero empathy for the human family who don't care where their pet shits because it's 'free to roam' but want people to care about their feelings when they let their pet come to harm by letting it out.

Their behaviour was awful and completely out of line. As a pet owner, thank you for stopping and doing what you could. Thank goodness most people are decent and would not just walk away from this. A few years ago my neighbour found a dead cat by the side of the road. He and I split the block and knocked on every door to find the owners. They were so grateful to know what had happened, even if heartbroken about it.

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.

So you think someone's a 'dickhead' for putting their cancer screening or job interview or flight or any appointment with our already overstretched and backlogged nhs, above a dead animal. Do you have any idea how long the wait is for very important nhs appointments, can be months or even years. And your lack of sympathy for people with allergies is far worse than peoples lack of sympathy for a dead cat. I hope you never have yourself or a loved on go into anaphylaxis or break out in hives and struggle to breathe from exposure

Of course it's sad when anything dies and I'm not surprised a young child is upset. But frankly life is busy, people have a million other things going on and human lives and the things needed to live it (jobs, medical appointments, punctuality etc) are in most cases a higher priority than a dead cat not being left on the pavement. It's not nice but it's life and practicality. If someone came on here moaning that they'd been disciplined at work for being late or had missed a medical appointment and couldn't get another for months, and their reason was they stopped for a dead cat they would be told to prioritise better.

I dont know. It's a nice thing to do. But the whole cats are free to roam / they are wild and have the right to shit in the garden / cat owners comparing them to foxes and badgers who shit everywhere in the wild...and then expect someone to treat your animal, who you have let out in the road, with much more compassion than a wild animal. Again although it's the right thing to do a lot of people will be too busy (eg if you were going to get pay docked or a warning if on the way to work) or just too squeamish

Some people are just vile dicks. I've been late for work, including shifts as a carer, when stopping to help injured animals (pets and wildlife). If there's only me to help, then work just has to take second place. I'm not going to leave an animal suffering if I'm even remotely able to help.

I'm also one of the people who volunteer to collect dead RTA cats and take them to be scanned, it's horrible to do especially when nobody has even had the compassion to move an animal to the side of the road. Even if you're allergic, or don't like animals, at least stop to move one out of the way of traffic.

There are very rare occasions where you quite literally cannot stop.

I am a paediatrician, called in from home for emergencies. One night, I was called in urgently at about midnight. Approaching the turn on to the main road, a speeding car took the corner wide and was approaching me head on. I mounted the empty pavement, to try to get out of the way, and they swerved and went up a bank on the side of the road. I honestly thought they were going to overturn. And I was praying that they would not overturn as I would have no choice but to stop and render help. But my not attending would increase the odds of the death of the baby whose resuscitation I was heading for. Thank god the car did not overturn, and I could drive on. But I was shaking like a leaf afterwards, not from the near miss, but from having been a hairs breadth from the decision on who to leave to die. In that situation, I would absolutely have driven away from a cat. And dealt with hating myself afterwards.

It's pretty unlikely this driver was in such a position as that, but there truly would be very rare occasions where stopping for an animal would not be possible.

Even if you're allergic, or don't like animals, at least stop to move one out of the way of traffic.

Well, I can't pick it up without risking an asthma attack. I could kick it to the side but I imagine that would have me popped straight into the MN psychopath box.

@DrinkFeckArseBrick

I dont know. It's a nice thing to do. But the whole cats are free to roam / they are wild and have the right to shit in the garden / cat owners comparing them to foxes and badgers who shit everywhere in the wild...and then expect someone to treat your animal, who you have let out in the road, with much more compassion than a wild animal. Again although it's the right thing to do a lot of people will be too busy (eg if you were going to get pay docked or a warning if on the way to work) or just too squeamish

Sl as pp have posted - don’t have outdoor cats if you live in a busy area! Of course cats can also be hit in rural places but when I see cats on the motorway or at a busy crossing- the owner has no right to be shocked that an accident happened. Cats tend to run out suddenly and not all of them have road sense.

I’m from a country full of stray cats and feral dogs roaming the streets. Everyone manages to keep their pets indoors with no trouble at all

@donenowplease

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.

So you think someone's a 'dickhead' for putting their cancer screening or job interview or flight or any appointment with our already overstretched and backlogged nhs, above a dead animal. Do you have any idea how long the wait is for very important nhs appointments, can be months or even years. And your lack of sympathy for people with allergies is far worse than peoples lack of sympathy for a dead cat. I hope you never have yourself or a loved on go into anaphylaxis or break out in hives and struggle to breathe from exposure

Of course it's sad when anything dies and I'm not surprised a young child is upset. But frankly life is busy, people have a million other things going on and human lives and the things needed to live it (jobs, medical appointments, punctuality etc) are in most cases a higher priority than a dead cat not being left on the pavement. It's not nice but it's life and practicality. If someone came on here moaning that they'd been disciplined at work for being late or had missed a medical appointment and couldn't get another for months, and their reason was they stopped for a dead cat they would be told to prioritise better.

I literally takes about a minute to move an animal out of the road. Say, I dunno, about the time that you might get held up by a set of traffic lights that are at red rather than green.

I'd gently suggest that in the scenerios you describe cutting your time so fine is a bit stupid.

Someone once hit a cat who belonged to one of my neighbours and dumped it on my driveway. I was very confused when said neighbour banged down my door demanding to know why I’d killed her cat 😬 I don’t wish bad things on other people generally, but I hope the culprit experienced some karma for that. Poor cat :(

I thought the discussion was about stopping for the dead cat AND finding the owner/takinf it to vet?
Stopping is what the people in the OP did.

@Weeble09

Some people are just vile dicks. I've been late for work, including shifts as a carer, when stopping to help injured animals (pets and wildlife). If there's only me to help, then work just has to take second place. I'm not going to leave an animal suffering if I'm even remotely able to help.

I'm also one of the people who volunteer to collect dead RTA cats and take them to be scanned, it's horrible to do especially when nobody has even had the compassion to move an animal to the side of the road. Even if you're allergic, or don't like animals, at least stop to move one out of the way of traffic.

As much as I am all for helping animals where you can I would be a bit annoyed if a family member of mine didn’t get the carer in they where due because they had stopped to help a cat!