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.

[quote Whatinthelord]@SW1amp really…what you supposed to do if you find a dog and can’t find the owner then?

I posted on SM once when a dog was roaming our street. The owner came and got it but was very angry that I hadn’t got hold of the dog, even after I explained that the reason I didn’t get hold of the dog was because I was scared of dogs. As if it was my responsibility to keep HIS dog safe.[/quote]
When the vet refused to take it in, I took it back to the park I found it and asked a dog Walker to help, because I didn’t know the area, and thankfully they did
No idea what I would have done if I hadn’t stumbled across the walker though

The second time, I had baby DS with me and Battersea dogs home was 20-30 mins away so I said I couldn’t take the dog and just left
They weren’t happy but equally couldn’t chase me down the road with someone else’s dog..!

But the vets were not remotely interested in getting a live animal back to its owners

I cannot believe they will dedicate much time to getting a dead one back, let alone give it (expensive) treatment without knowing if someone will be picking up the bill

I'm a huge cat lover. If I ever hit a cat, I'd probably be sobbing at roadside.

If you hit a cat (or any animal), the very least you can do is move it out of the road. If it's alive, take it to the vets. If it's died, time and situation allowing then I'd knock on doors. It's not always that easy though. If you can't, then ring the emergency RSPCA number that is there for this reason.

Can you just take a dead cat to any vet?

I hit a cat. It run out so fast it didn’t have a chance. We were on a 50 mph single carriageway that came straight off a dual carriageway. There was no way I could stop or pull over - I would have caused an accident. I drove to the roundabout and went back to see if I could help. By then a group of pedestrians were dealing with it. I didn’t stop I’m afraid as enough people were helping. Looking back I’m not sure I could have done anything else. It was a very busy fast road at rush hour.

I would stop if it was safe to do so and I wasn't running late for something very important. I'd try and get hold of a vet to let them know where the cat was, but I wouldn't move a cat which was covered in blood etc. I almost always have kids in the car with me and wouldn't have any way to adequately clean myself up. Not really sure what I'd do if it was alive still. I wouldn't be transporting it anywhere in my car, partly as I would have nowhere to put it (seats all taken, boot full of pushchairs etc) and nothing to wrap it in even if I was willing to handle it. I wouldn't be waiting by the side of the road indefinitely so I guess I'd have to hope that someone else was around who was willing to take over until the vet was able to come out.

I think lots of cat owners are among the most entitled people. Your pet is your responsibility. The fact you've let it run out in the road now means that someone has to live with the fact they've killed it, through no fault of their own. And you also expect them to drop everything to deal with the fallout? Otherwise "karma will get them" Is it not enough that we have to deal with them shitting all over the gardens our kids play in? I feel sorry for the cats who end up run over, but have no time for the guilt trips from the owners of these "beloved pets" who allow it to happen.

what you supposed to do if you find a dog and can’t find the owner then?

I would expect the very least for all responsible dog (and cat) owners to do would be to put a tag on their collar with a phone number to contact in case of emergency or accident. Microchips are all well and good, but not much use to a passer-by or driver at the side of the road. It's very sad, but I personally would assume that a cat or dog without a phone number on its collar would be either a stray or one whose owner sadly wasn't that bothered about it.

If the animal is already dead and its owner didn't care enough for it to make it easy to contact them if need be (without needing to be/take it to a vet), I don't morally see what you could or should have to do other than move its body out of the way of the traffic.

@inigomontoyahwillcox

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! apologies I assumed you told the story in chronological order.

There’s no need to put “allergies” in speech marks as if you don’t think they actually exist. As someone who has significant experience of taxi drivers claiming “allergies” as a reason why they have the right to refuse mine and various other people’s guide dogs, I think that the allergy excuse is often very overstated.

And just for reference, if a taxi driver has genuine allergies they can get an exemption certificate which exempts them from carrying a guide dog. They have to carry it and be able to produce it, failure to do so means they’re breaking the law.

Of the approx 50000 taxi drivers in London, there are just 7 who have exemption certificates.

So no. On the whole I don’t buy allergies.

That being said, I do understand why someone might not want to handle a dead animal to take it to the vet.

Can you just take a dead cat to any vet? yes. And if the cat is chipped then the vet will ring the owner to ask for payment for its disposal.

@inigomontoyahwillcox Did the driver slam his brakes on or could he not have avoided hitting the cat?
For me, it's not so much what happened afterwards - the poor thing was fatally the njured and no-one could have done anything to save it by the sound of it, but in my experience if you slow even a scared cat will make a decent call at getting out of the way.
What sort of road? Speed limit?

A van driver caused my husband to fall off his bike (passed so close my DH was unable to avoid a pothole) and then he stopped, got out of his van, looked at DH lying in the road and said "I'm late for work" then drove off.

[quote DoubleTweenQueen]@inigomontoyahwillcox Did the driver slam his brakes on or could he not have avoided hitting the cat?
For me, it's not so much what happened afterwards - the poor thing was fatally the njured and no-one could have done anything to save it by the sound of it, but in my experience if you slow even a scared cat will make a decent call at getting out of the way.
What sort of road? Speed limit?[/quote]
It actually happened at traffic lights - so didn't realise what had happened until I saw the cat in the road, I just thought the car was stopping (so no slamming of breaks)

@lochmaree

A van driver caused my husband to fall off his bike (passed so close my DH was unable to avoid a pothole) and then he stopped, got out of his van, looked at DH lying in the road and said "I'm late for work" then drove off.

Jesus wept - I despair.

I would feel absolutely traumatised if I'd seen that OP, people are awful hope you and your dd feel better again soon, its a horrible thing to have seen. ❤

What's with all of the suggestions to 'just take it to a vet'? Apart from the fact that a vet will have the equipment to read a microchip, if there is one, what else are they meant to do?

In the UK, we have a public system in place whereby all humans can be treated free at an NHS hospital/facility by people who are paid by the government. We don't have a system like that for animals: vets only earn their money by being paid by the owners of the animals they treat. A vet is a doctor for an animal, not a social services equivalent. You wouldn't take an abandoned car to a random garage and dump it at their door; why would you dump a dead cat on a random vet?

As I said before, any pet owner who cares in the slightest about a pet that isn't under constant supervision/indoors will already have put a tag with a contact number on its collar as they first thing they did when getting it. I imagine that any vet being presented with a tag-less pet will already have a good idea that, even if the pet does have a microchip, it's not going to be straightforward to find a reasonable/responsible owner and that helping will end up costing them a lot of their time that they won't ever be remunerated for.

@lochmaree OMG - I hope he wasn't badly hurt?
My DH was knocked off his bike on a country road, but at least the driver offered to take him to a&e - he was fine and I went to pick up him and the bike - but he really appreciated the decent attitude of the driver.

I know other cyclists who've not been so fortunate :(

@DoubleTweenQueen luckily not, just scraped and shaken with a broken bike. a very nice man who saw what happened stopped and took him and his bike home (I was asleep with 4m old ) Yeah accidents happen unfortunately but the attitude of the driver makes a huge difference! this guy didn't even wait to see if he was OK, DH was a bit stunned I think so was just lying there. same I absolutely love cycling too but the risks do make me wonder if it's worth it.

Interesting points sausageroll.

I am shocked by some of these replies.

You have hit an animal on the road with your car and don't want to stop because you don't have time???

Would you still 'not have time' if it was a child that ran out?!

If you for whatever reason didn't stop but very shortly after contacted a vet or someone else to deal with it then fair enough but to leave an animal that in the UK is almost certainly going to be a much loved part of someone's family, dying or in extreme pain at the side of the road is despicable.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll we have a cat and he should be wearing a collar but he takes them all off so now he just doesn't wear one. He is microchipped and isn't allowed out at night to reduce his chances of a car accident, but we do accept the risk and he is insured. There is also only one road near us and all the neighbours know he is our cat.

Most vets will take an injured or dead pet. When my parents cat was hit and killed, someone took her to the vet, and they shared it on their social media which is how we knew they had the body and what had happened. For wildlife, vets have a duty of care so any injured wildlife would be pts or treated and released to a wildlife rescue.

Would you still 'not have time' if it was a child that ran out?!

Ofgs. I know half of MN would push their child aside in a burning building to save the family pet but, come on, talk about false equivalence.

@Dasher789 a " much loved part of someone's family" that is so, so loved its allowed to roam the streets and play "chicken" with cars?

If you let your cat roam you are doing it uunder the premise that it's a wild animal and other people are free to treat it as such. If it's a "beloved pet" keep it safe at home.

@FourTeaFallOut

Would you still 'not have time' if it was a child that ran out?!

Ofgs. I know half of MN would push their child aside in a burning building to save the family pet but, come on, talk about false equivalence.

I'm actually quite impressed we got 5 pages in before someone came out with that one.

Would you still 'not have time' if it was a child that ran out?!

No because that's a child and not a cat. Ignoring the very obvious moral difference for most people, it would also be illegal to fail to stop in that instance.

If you for whatever reason didn't stop but very shortly after contacted a vet or someone else to deal with it then fair enough

Would you think it "fair enough" to hit a child and leave it at the side of the road as long as you put a call in to the local GP? Or do you, in fact, understand that there's a massive difference between a cat and a human child?

Treat your pets like they are your children/family. Accept that unlike them, you are entirely reaponsible for their welfare.