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.

If you can’t leave a dog then you shouldn’t be allowed to leave a cat. All these people going on about how they might be on their way to work... if you hit a dog, you have to report it to the police- why should it be any different for cats? Someone loves them just the same.

@CalamityJaneDoe

The reason you have to report a dog is nothing to do with because someone 'loves them'. It's a historic (and actually outdated law) which qualifies them as 'working animals' (like horses). If you're going down that route you're more likely to find that it'll go the way of you don't need to report cats so no need to with dogs either (as in the modern day they are far less often actually working animals). Add to this that it's very rare that dogs are out on their own so it would be an anomaly and indicate the dog isn't where it's meant to be in the first place, whether cat owners will be the first to tell you their precious 'fur babies' need and have the right to roam.

It really doesn't matter that someone loves them, stopping on an A road or in the dark to see if you've hit a cat (because half the time it's just a bump and you don't know if it's cat, rabbit or rubbish in road) is wildly impractical and far more dangerous than people left wondering about their 'wild' and 'roaming' pets.

Meh, maybe people need to be responsible for their cats. Buy/build a cat run if you can't have an inside cat. Not every one has the time to stop what they're doing to follow up for irresponsible pet owners.

I killed a cat outright once and no way was I going to pick up it’s smashed up and bloodied body and put it in my car! If you don’t want your cat killed, keep it off the roads.

@IWantT0BreakFree

Nobody is saying that by letting a cat roam - which most cats will do, given they are usually semi-domesticated by nature - they are transfering responsibility. Just that maybe if you were to hit an animal you treat it with a bit of respect. Apparently that's too much to ask some people though.

Various people on this thread have indicated that someone who hits a cat is responsible for all the things I listed. Saying it's about "a bit of respect" is minimising what you are actually expecting people to do. I don't want to handle an animal that is covered in blood and likely to scratch or bite me if it's still alive. I don't want to be late for/miss an appointment or whatever I'm doing that is important to me. I don't want to wait around with a dying animal that I can't actually help. You can "oh FFS" all you like, but actually where is your respect (assuming you're a cat owner) for the people you are burdening with your decision to own a pet that shits all over their gardens, kills all the wildlife they try to encourage and runs out in front of them on the road?

Add to that plenty of people arguing about ‘stopping and moving’ cat. Erm, that’s what the people in the OP did - and she’s still not happy about THAT? She wants it all taken to the vet blah just as poster above has said . You own a pet that you can’t control - you shouldn’t be shocked and surprised if it goes missing .

I agree with the not just leaving in the road (if possible) and calling a vet (if there’s a chance it could be saved) . Do what you can for the animal’s welfare but that’s it. The owner’s feelings are not part of animal welfare. And so don’t need to be considered. It’s their fault for not containing their pet.

Exactly @TractorAndHeadphones. And all the hypocrisy from cat owners claiming they'd stop for hedgehogs, rabbits, rats etc. They don't seem to care for all the birds, rabbits, hedgehogs, fish etc that their beloved pet subjects to a drawn out death while it's out roaming around everyone else's gardens. If they actually gave a shit about animal suffering they'd either not own a cat, or they'd keep it contained at home where it can't kill other animals for fun or get run over itself.

I can understand why he wouldn’t want to pick the cat up as an asthmatic, it can cause an attack. He should have thought to call someone though and stayed there until someone collected it.

My uncle witnessed a cat get run over in his road. He was in his house, not driving. Sadly the cat had died instantly, but he called the number on the collar to let them know he had taken it to the vets.
The cat owners then proceeded to call him and threaten him over several weeks, in the days when you couldn’t block a number, accusing him of being the driver and “murdering” their cat. They were obviously very upset and angry, but they were taking it out in him. He was pretty upset by the whole thing and said he would never call the owners of this ever happened again but would still take an animal to the vets,

This would be my fear too. People will obviously be upset and may be looking for somebody to blame and offload their upset on to, plus a lot of people are just plain stupid. As an entirely uninvolved third party, you kindly step in to give somebody a sad but important message, then they make you out to be the villain.

Imagine if it wasn't even just a phone number, but if they knew you/recognised you/found out where you lived and began a campaign of hatred against the 'cat killer'. I'm not saying the majority of pet owners would react like this at all, but when you get hard-working paediatricians attacked by idiotic, nasty vigilantes who can't read further than the first four letters.... these people are out there.

Bold fail there

Also, those (slightly bizarre) people equating a cat being killed on the road with a child being killed on the road - this just underlines the fact that cats are considered semi-domesticated, free-roaming creatures and that nobody is really responsible if they meet with disaster - which should actually even make you glad (in the circumstances).

If you did have a young child who was allowed to wander miles from home and then was tragically killed by a car, in an accident which no driver could reasonably have foreseen or prevented, you could rant on all you like about the selfish, disgusting, reckless, sub-human driver who killed a child and/or didn't take responsibility for the child's welfare at the time of the accident - but it wouldn't primarily be the driver whom the police and social services would want to 'speak with' (and maybe prosecute) about how the situation was allowed to arise in the first place.

I agree.

@DrManhattan

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

Who? Why do MNers assume that everyone has a massive support network who can drop everything at a moment's notice. They may not be local, either.

@IWantT0BreakFree

Exactly *@TractorAndHeadphones*. And all the hypocrisy from cat owners claiming they'd stop for hedgehogs, rabbits, rats etc. They don't seem to care for all the birds, rabbits, hedgehogs, fish etc that their beloved pet subjects to a drawn out death while it's out roaming around everyone else's gardens. If they actually gave a shit about animal suffering they'd either not own a cat, or they'd keep it contained at home where it can't kill other animals for fun or get run over itself.

Rubbish. It's birds that kill other birds. Most cats are far too well fed and lazy to ever catch anything, and if they do, it's ill and was going to die anyway.

Sensible cats don't take on squirrels, either.

@WolfFleeceSpotter

Same happened to me although I was a random driver and stopped for a neighbours cat.

I own cats, I love cats but I wouldn't pick up a dead cat and put it in my car.

I would take an injured cat to the nearest vet.

It's sad for the cat and the owner but there is no way I could bring myself to touch a dead animal.

Rubbish. It's birds that kill other birds. Most cats are far too well fed and lazy to ever catch anything, and if they do, it's ill and was going to die anyway.

We observed a cat do just that in our garden yesterday - grabbing a young bird from very low down in the tree and dragging it away in its jaws. One cat out of millions, one garden out of millions, one minute out of millions: I'm sure we weren't unique in having the 'privilege' to witness that.

They don't do it because they need/want to eat the bird - I wouldn't actually have a problem with it if they did want it for food. They just do it for fun.

And if we're going down the 'survival of the fittest' route, saying that the bird was already sickly, weak and about to die anyway, how does that square with criticising those who don't stop or call a vet out for a seriously injured cat that's about to die anyway, and that's if it isn't already dead?

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

Geez - a child is way more important than a cat. There is a 999 service to help humans - do cat owners pay into a NHS service for pets? I’d stop if I saw a young unaccompanied child trying to cross a busy road. I’d not stop if I saw an unaccompanied cat! Seriously - ridiculous comparison.
If you love your cat keep it safe

Rubbish. It's birds that kill other birds. Most cats are far too well fed and lazy to ever catch anything, and if they do, it's ill and was going to die anyway.

Well that's just bullshit as you well know. And even if it weren't, do you think it's OK for sick animals to be torn to pieces by your pet? On a thread about how very evil it is to leave an animal to suffer? That's exactly the kind of hypocrisy I'm talking about.

I think most of us at some point will have observed cats stalking and killing birds. We see it regularly as we live in a neighbourhood with lots of cats (lucky us). I would imagine most of us also know cat owners who tell us all about the half dead birds, rodents etc that their cat brings into the house. In my case, I also have a delightful colleague who posts regular updates on the group chat about the latest victims of his cats, often complete with photo evidence. So nice try, but we all know it's rubbish that cats don't kill wildlife.

Sensible cats don't take on squirrels, either.

Didn't actually mention squirrels. We don't see them in our residential area. But definitely we regularly have hedgehogs and birds killed by cats, and neighbours with ponds often lose their fish to the local cats.

You could say that sensible cats don’t run out into the road either!

Some cats hunt, some don't. Cats cannot be compared to children.

Neither of these should cloud the truth, cats can feel pain and fear as can their owners. It's awful for families when they don't know what happened because it hasn't at least been reported to local vets or on local chat groups.

I think the reason why you have to notify an accident involving a dog is because the dogs owners are liable for any damage it causes. Therefore if you damaged your car or a passenger suffered whiplash, the dog owners insurance would have to deal with that (assuming they had insurance).
This doesn't apply to cats, who are allowed to roam.
It's a pretty shit thing to do though, leave an animal suffering.

@CalamityJaneDoe

If you can’t leave a dog then you shouldn’t be allowed to leave a cat. All these people going on about how they might be on their way to work... if you hit a dog, you have to report it to the police- why should it be any different for cats? Someone loves them just the same.

The law is that way because dogs aren't allowed to roam freely. If you want the same law as dogs, cats will have to be under their owners supervision at all times.

@Hemingwaycat

I can understand why he wouldn’t want to pick the cat up as an asthmatic, it can cause an attack. He should have thought to call someone though and stayed there until someone collected it.

Call what sort of ‘someone’?

The dead cat collection association?!

Neither of these should cloud the truth, cats can feel pain and fear as can their owners. It's awful for families when they don't know what happened because it hasn't at least been reported to local vets or on local chat groups.

I'm sure it must be awful for the owners, although my sympathy is completely reserved for the cats in those situations. The point is, the way to avoid all of the suffering and upset is to be a responsible pet owner and make sure that your pet is not at risk of being injured or killed. It isn't other people's responsibility to solve the problems of reckless cat owners. It's not anybody's responsibility - moral or otherwise - to arrange vet care, handle dead or injured animals, be late for/miss work or an appointment or a social engagement etc because a pet owner has failed to adequately care for their animal.

@Twinkie01

It's sad for the cat and the owner but there is no way I could bring myself to touch a dead animal.

We didn't actually touch it - we covered it with an old hoodie and could then pick it up on to the sleeping bag without touching it.

Yep - cats kill wildlife, it's true. As do dogs (this contains an interesting section about the subject, as does this ). I (as mentioned below) had to get a pigeon euthanised - this was due to my cat injuring it (I've also intentionally killed a pigeon with my car after seeing it hit by another car and it being alive but severely injured), have also nursed a couple of field mice back to health after being terrorised by my moggie. I've got a bell on him and don't allow him out at night in an attempt to minimise his hunting success. He's a Norwegian Forest - so ideally needs access to the outdoors - although we're pretty rural so he has plenty of woods/fields etc. to roam.

But none of the variety of comments regarding free ranging cats, their irresponsible owners (I agree that having an outdoor cat in a densely populated area with busy main roads close by is necessarily suitable), what about the millions of other animals that die, what if you caused an accident (of course there are circumstances in which you can't or shouldn't stop) convince me that if you're confronted with an animal in great suffering - you do nothing to alleviate it - or spare a thought for the owner if it's a domesticated animal (no matter whether you think they're an idiot or not).

And for what it's worth ...

The bloke was clearly not asthmatic enough to not smoke.
They put the animal on the pavement of a busy road (centre of town) so it was therefore in full view of anyone who walked by, including children.
It was possible to pull the car in (as we did) so other cars could move freely around.
It took me 10 seconds to locale a vet, which was very close by.

There's quite a lot of comments about the accident itself and blaming the driver (or not) - I did state pretty clearly in my OP that that wasn't my issue and certainly don't blame them for that - although this thread has now taken on a life of its own...as they often do here.

Thanks to those who sympathised with how traumatic it was to witness, that's really kind. DD is OK now - sad of course, and we are both getting flashbacks, as I guess you do after seeing something horrific.