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.

How is a driver supposed to know if a collarless cat is feral?

FWIW I completely agree with the people saying that no cats should be allowed to roam. If you don't have space for an outdoor enclosure, don't get a cat.

I really don't understand why it's accepted/tolerated behaviour.

The same people you give your details to if you hit a person or a dog.

Only a truly unpleasant, immoral person has such limited compassion that it cannot extend to animals. Both children and animals suffer and deserve respect, their value in your eyes doesn't negate that.

The really unpleasant ones are those who try to pretend animals and children are the same.

No words.

No one is suggesting they're the same.

I once witnessed a cat being hit by a car. it was during lockdown and there was one car on the road. The poor thing just ran out and was knocked over. The car didn't stop. The cat was screeching and writhing in pain, it was so awful. Luckily the roads were clear so I sat with the cat and stroked it as it died (within 30 seconds). DH fetched the car and we dropped it off at a vets who identified the owner. It's not hard.

During lockdown, would you even have been allowed to stop? I honestly don't know.

That said, I can't blame someone who may well have been too nervous to get out of the car in case it was illegal or because they were worried about catching COVID. It was a very strange time and often even very decent people behaved in odd manners.

Good God! What a rant. I'm thinking you might benefit from some anger management counselling.

If you let a cat (or any other animal) wander around outside and you live anywhere near a road, the chances are that the cat will at some point be running across that road. If there happens to be a vehicle using the road at the same moment, it's possible that the cat will be hit by the vehicle.

If you want to avoid that from happening, you can construct an outdoor cat pen in your garden, which can be connected to the house by a cat flap. Alternatively, you could erect a cat-proof fence around the entire perimeter of your garden and ensure that you always kept all gates closed. Or you could keep the cat indoors all the time as many people do.

What you can't do is bully the unsuspecting motorist, in front of whose car the cat ran out, into "going to the ends of the earth". If the welfare of the cat is that important to you, you wouldn't let it wander near a road and risk being injured or killed. The end.

The police then? There's no legal requirement to do that if you hit a cat, so why would the police take your details if there's no mechanism because there's no requirement to do so?

I would stop and check, and take to a vet if I hit any animal and it wasn't dead, I agree it's the humane thing to do. And I'd take a cat to a local sanctuary/vets if it had died, or report it to them if I couldn't do that, because again it's the right thing to do.

But I wouldn't be knocking on doors or posting on Facebook or leaving details with anyone other than the vet/sanctuary - and that's been reinforced by some of the attitudes on here sadly. I wouldn't be going to 'the ends of the earth' to track down an owner. I'd deal with the immediate situation to prevent suffering and ensure someone knew what had happened so the animal could be traced, and that's where my responsibility ends.

I'm not going to open myself up to harassment from someone because they've decided that even though they let their cat roam around, it's automatically my fault if their cat darts in front of my car and I don't have time to stop or avoid.

If cat owners want to campaign to make it law, the same as it is with dogs or humans, and that happened, then my reporting would be done to the police.

If my dog gets away from me and into the road it might not be my fault, but it's still my responsibility, as there is a legal obligation on me to control my dog. No such obligation is on cat owners, therefore there's no legal obligation to report hitting one. If cat owners want that legal obligation to apply then it will come with the responsibility that applies to a dog owner - keeping it under control, which means it shouldn't be out without the owner having it under control - and thereby stopping it running in front of cars in the first place.

So the police then. Have you checked they'd actually answer such a call, and if they did, what do you imagine would happen next?

Years ago my neighbour at the time knocked to see if my cats were ok, as one had been killed at the end of our road. It wasnt mine, but he and I knocked on all the houses to see if anyone knew the cat. A day later the guy who had told me his cat was home came around with flowers - it was his, had got out without them knowing and he was grateful they knew what had happened. Unless it is unsafe, I think it is the moral thing to at least take the cat to the vet.

Nothing as it stands, I'm sure. I was describing what a fair law would be, not what it is right now.

Responsible pet owners will not let their cat out if they live near a busy road. Most neutered cats will stay close to their home within their territory usually a couple of hundred metres. I live in a quiet cul de sac surrounded by farmland.
Cats near busy roads are likely to be intact males looking for females, which is one of the reasons people should get their cats fixed.

This could all be avoided if cat owners go to a little bit of effort to keep their cat safe

Ah, I see. This was your batshit wishlist. Are you the person who initially made the post about making amends which has now been deleted?

Hopefully you understand anyway that in the case of a law change, obligations would work both ways. Your cat being on a road unsupervised could, after all, cause significant damage if someone tried to avoid them.

This. A million percent

Outdoor cat "ownership" is absolute bollocks.

And don't give me "how do you keep them in" that's YOUR problem to solve, you are the one that has a cat.

Just seems like common decency to me, if it's in any way possible.

Obviously, if you're on an A road with a car full of screaming kids or running late for work etc then it's not doable. People shouldn't be putting their own ives in danger, or the lives of others, but if you can, you should, IMO.

I stopped to pick one up recently (I hadn't hit it - was on a country lane so no houses around) and while I getting a bag out of my boot to pick it up some twat in a 4x4 rolled over it! If it wasn't dead to start with, it was after that! I took it to a local vets to be chip checked.

I see cats the same as dogs - as much loved pets and family members - so if I can help, I do.

That's right, and for clarity I have never been supportive of cats being outdoors. Your concerns about motor damage and callous attitude to the death of an animal really do say it all, though.

Your cat being on a road unsupervised could, after all, cause significant damage if someone tried to avoid them.

And that’s why you’re not supposed to brake hard or swerve for small animals.

The posters mentioning the mob mentality on FB when you post about a dead cat reminds of the time that someone was flamed into oblivion for seeing a dead ginger cat in the road, but not stopping. They were called heartless etc.
When someone did go to find it, it turned out to be a fox.

If we ran over a cat and killed it then, if it had a collar with contact details, we would let the owner know. But cats roam far and wide and no way would we keep knocking on doors. So without a collar we would just leave it at the side of the road.

If it was injured we'd phone the RSPCA or a rescue place.

That seems reasonable.

Behave yourself.

Cats cause nothing but death and destruction. How do you think it makes my kids feel to come out into our garden and find the frogs they've raised from tadpoles in our pond with their guts strewn across the patio? Do cat owners actually give one shiny shit what their cats are doing when they are out and about? The things they kill? The wildlife they endanger? The destruction they cause to peoples property? The shit that gets trodden into my carpet from my garden because cats have shit in there again?
And yet you expect others to not just stop after hitting the cat you allowed to rin around, but go "to the ends of the earth" to find YOU and make sure that YOU are OK?

Unbelievable. How about you take just a tiny bit of responsibility for your own pet before you expect strangers to?

If it’s injured you take it to a vet!

Behave yourself.

Humans cause nothing but death and destruction. How do you think it makes animals feel to come out of their habitat and find their offspring they've raised from babies on the ground with their guts strewn out? Do humans actually give one shiny shit? The things they kill? The wildlife they endanger? The destruction they cause to animals’ habitats?

Fixed it for you!