To think cat owners are unreasonable for insisting that drivers MUST stop if they hit a cat?

[OtterlyMad]

Some of the people on my town’s Facebook page lose their minds when a cat is killed by a car. It’s automatically blamed on speeding (despite there being no evidence of this) and there are always lots of comments along the lines of how “disgusting” it is that the driver didn’t stop and make the owner aware.

None of them seem to appreciate that the driver might not have time to track down the owner. For example, perhaps they are on their way to work, a job interview, wedding, funeral, court, airport, hospital, dentist, client meeting, school pick up, etc. Plus cats can wander quite far and don’t all wear collars so tracking down the owner could be a real challenge - even more so if driver isn’t local to the area!

Obviously it’s devastating for people to lose their pet in this way (I’m an animal lover and have owned pets all my life so I get it) but surely this is a known risk of allowing cats to roam freely? And owners accept that risk because they feel it gives their cat a better quality of life, even if that means their life is shorter as a result?

My locals are now campaigning to make it law that drivers who hit a cat must not only stop and find the owner, but also HAND OVER THEIR CONTACT DETAILS. To do what with?! So the cat’s owner can give the driver grief and/or demand compensation they’re not entitled to???

Am I the only one thinking this is ludicrous?

You are being unreasonable - drivers should be required to stop, track down the owner of the cat and hand over their contact details.

You are not being unreasonable - injury/death by vehicle is a sad but accepted risk of cats having the right to roam so drivers should not be required to stop.

If cats want the same rights as wildlife

🤣🤣🤣
I don’t think cats are bothered about having “rights” per se.

Im a cat owner, love them but wouldn’t expect anyone who ran them over to try and track me down necessarily. If I ran one over I think I’d be far too squeamish to scoop it up and take it to a vet - I’m not actually sure what I’d do!

Surely you should be arguing to stop reporting dogs if knocked down?? Why would you accept being late for work/appointment/flight due to legal obligation to report dog knocked over but not a cat??

I suspect most people would stop and make reasonable attempt to help any animal.

It would probably be more effective for the council to create a bye law to keep cats indoors, as some in Australia and NZ have done (mainly to protect wildlife under threat). It puts the onus of responsibility onto the cat owner rather than the motorist.

What is your motive here? You are looking for a million loop holes as to why it would be ok to leave a cat to die in the road. Unless it was a really busy road or motorway, anyone would be a complete arsehole / borderline sociopath to just keep driving.

YANBU. I am obsessively fond of my cat and he’s a very important part of our family but I accept there’s a risk to him having free access to the outdoors. It’s impossible to keep a collar on my cat so how is anyone supposed to know whose he is if he gets run over?

I am imposing my animal on other people. He does have a litter tray and is kept in at night but I am always conscious other people aren’t responsible for him.

The dog thing is misleading I think. You are required to stop in order to call the police asap to report the accident. You can then go on your way - legally. You are not required by law to do anything specifically to help the dog in any way.

Cats could be covered under the same law, if the police want/are told to deal with reported cat deaths as part of their responsibilities.

“None of them seem to appreciate that the driver might not have time to track down the owner. For example, perhaps they are on their way to work…”

Please point me towards what exactly I have miscomprehended.

I can’t imagine knowing I had hit a live animal and not trying to stop to either make sure it was dead or get it some help.

That is utter bollocks. My cats all came from rescue. One had been straying, one neglected so out on the streets, the other had some outdoor access. Since they came here, not one of the three of them has asked to get out. They are happy and content indoors, with plenty of toys etc.

Microchip!!

Of course they can. A neighbour a few years ago had a cat that was poisoned, probably deliberately. Isn't that murder?!

My conscience wouldn't allow me not to stop.What if the animal could be saved if it received emergency treatment?,there's no way I could just drive off and leave it to die or be hit again by another car at the roadside when it could potentially be saved.Even if it was clearly dead I'd have to pick it up and take it to a vet to get it checked for a microchip to let the owners know and give them peace of mind as to the whereabouts of their pet.

There’s a compromise somewhere between “keep driving” and “having to provide my name and contact details to the cat’s owner.” The latter is being suggested on my local Facebook page, and I object to it. My motive is to find out whether I am the lunatic for objecting, or if I am surrounded by lunatics. By the look of the poll, the jury is still out!

No. Murder is the intentional killing of a human without lawful excuse. Killing a cat might be cruel (it might not be of course) but it can’t ever be murder.

Pest controllers, for example, are not mass murderers.

Doesn’t mean that people don’t have a moral duty to show basic human decency towards your pet when he is outdoors.
It’s not fair game for some arse hole to run him over with impunity.
I’d feel like I’d failed as a human being if a placed a crummy job over a few minutes tending to an injured or dying animal.

Oh blimey. Here they come. Repeat slowly after me: animals and children are NOT equivalent.

So you would leave an animal you hit to potentially die in pain? That's so cruel!!

Perhaps you should change the title of your op then, you seem to have drawn out (I’m sure unintentionally) all the sociopathic cat haters, that seem to be objecting to the very existence of cats, not the prospect of handing over their contact details.

I have had a few cats run out in front of me but because I wasn't speeding, I could stop safely without injury to the poor cat, so far.

Unfortunately there are many idiotic drivers local around us that even take the speed bumps at speed to race and they do not give a shit.

I would definitely stop and take the cat to the vets as long as I wasn't in an emergency. The vet can then scan the chip (if chipped) and then let the cat owners know so they aren't wondering what happened to their little cat.

Many vets in my city will advertise when a cat has died and will share status to find their owners on social media.

It is a risk we take but also equally, I'd know what it would mean to me if someone knew what had happened to my cat. I wouldn't blame them as such. Accidents happen. But I'd be grateful they'd taken the time to help me know.

I would never sue anyone. That's going beyond ridiculous unless someone had proof they had run over my/ someone's cat deliberately which is most likely never going to have proof for.

The unhinged cat owners also don't seem to realise that although they are familiar with where all the vets are in their town/county/suburb, people who don't have pets haven't a clue. I do know where there is one vet near me but it's 9-5 weekdays, and I think they're open on a Saturday morning. So if you hit a cat in the dark at 10pm, what then? I'm sure the vet is going to be delighted to come back to the office late at night to deal with it. Or if you're driving in an area you're really not familiar with, you wouldn't have a clue. You're not au fait with the local vets, aren't in the local facebook group, no point in posting on your Twitter/FB/Insta if you're in Belfast and your friends and followers are all in Basingstoke, is there?

The comparisons with hit and run accidents on children are just in such poor taste.

My lunatic neighbour would be the type to be demanding prison sentences for running over his cat, he shouts abuse at anyone daring to drive to their house in our cul-de-sac as "you could've killed my cat", despite his cat not even being in the road at the time 🙄

He'd also offer the same abuse if you asked him to come collect his cat's shit from our garden. Over the decade we've lived here, probably enough to fill a wheelie bin just from his cat alone. I digress.

I think your locals are crazies @OtterlyMad , I dare you to suggest to them that if they are fighting to make this law, that they also include in this law that they are responsible for collecting their cats shits from every single other persons gardens that they shit in.

Disclaimer: I've NEVER hit a cat with my car.

Exactly, and add to the fact that you can't use your mobile when in control of your car etc. If there's nowhere safe to pull over. You can only legally use your mobile with your engine off, so you're putting yourself and passengers at risk of being hit by another vehicle by randomly stopping in the road to google search a vet etc. The whole idea is ridiculous. I'm not getting out of my car with my children to start knocking on random doors.

And not wanting to track down owners, or leave them your details etc. does not mean you don't give a shit.

By law, if you hit a dog, you have to report it to the police, by law, if your dog is in public, it must be wearing a tag with contact details on it. The same laws are not in force for cats as they have right to roam. Cat owners cannot have it both ways.

Horrible!

It seems so many cat owners take no responsibility for their pet , I even had to take responsibility for making sure people's cats didn't get access to my Guinea pigs by using pad locks . Stop letting them roam . Or accept the risk .
It's your pet it's your job to keep it safe .

It can be really hard to keep some cats in! 20+ years ago, I had 4 cats, two completely indoor, and the other two indoor/outdoor (but only out when we were at home). I didn't let them out overnight at all, but one was a total bugger - if it got too far into dusk, there was no getting him in! His eyes would literally dance - he would come into almost catching distance, then hook it, chasing bugs! I must have spent hours of my life bribing him to try to get him in, and in 9 years, he only eluded me three times, once when we went to dinner with friends and we came home in the early hours to a contrite Ginge waiting on the doormat to get in!

I'd several of my childhood cats killed on the road, and we lived rurally. Two of them were pregnant and probably slower. Another one followed my mum on a walk. Mum didn't realise until she heard a thump as she was hit by the car, which needless to say, didn't stop. Mum ran to her and she was lifeless. She put her in a safe place, and went home for a cardboard box. She was fine after vet treatment and lived for several more years. If she hadn't got picked up so quickly, and another car had hit her, it would have been a different story.