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.

Moralwank car fantasies 🤣

Normal people do not hurt animals and walk away. Normal people will try to help. Yes, there will always be instances when someone is unable to stop. Sometimes it isn't safe, sometimes the animal has bolted, etc.

I stand by the fact that anyone who just drive off, because they simply cannot be bothered to do anything, is scum. Thankfully, I don't know anybody like that. It's utterly abhorrent.

Yes, moralwank car crash fantasies is rather apt. Thanks for the inspo!

Esoteric definitions of the word fact aside, what you're not getting here is that telling people how strongly you disapprove of them doesn't tend to work when they've got safety concerns. Trying to shame people only has the desired result if they actually care. Otherwise it's just noise. There's a missing ingredient.

You are of course free to be as counterproductive as you like. Crack on. But sounding like the sort of person who deters others from doing anything if they hit a cat is not going to help achieve any of your aims.

You do you.

You think it's OK. I feel awfully sorry for any children you're attempting to raise, but that's for their future therapy.

I agree. I think it's so incredibly important to teach our children compassion for animals. I am so happy that my kids have grown up with a huge love for them. It helps them become well-rounded, compassionate and empathetic adults.

I feel sorry for children who don't get that opportunity. You can see how the lack of it manifests in callous adults.

I'll teach my kids to drive safely and not risk killing themselves trying to avoid somebody's disposable cat.

(They're clearly considered disposable by the owners, otherwise they'd keep them safe indoors.)

The cats would think of themselves before you. They don't care one little bit about you. They would have darted off and forgotten about you before you'd even realised there was a fire and started looking for them.

Yep, cats would dart out long before any person could try to get out.
I would have absolute faith in any cats I have owned in the past getting out in a fire.
My dog would have to be convinced, and I would get her out. Any guests I have would get themselves out.

But this hypothetical situation comes up on here a lot, and is used to beat anyone who happens to have a much loved pet into admitting some sort of hidden misanthropy.

My cats are indoors only. I don't know if they would cope outside. I don't want to test it out.

I don't have any elderly, disabled or child visitors.

My DD1 told me that her friend had a white fluffy cat run out in front of her recently. She braked, and missed the cat, but said her first thought was how would she break it to the owner. Her second thought was, how would she tell my DD! There are still some decent people out there.

It is possible to state that you (sensibly) wouldn’t risk causing an accident to avoid hitting a cat without being downright nasty about it.

My cat was killed by a car and the driver didn't stop, however some kind woman literally scraped him off the road, wrapped him in a towel and took him to a vet where they scanned the microchip and called me. If it wasn't for her I never would have known why he didn't come home, it was such a kind thing to do.

I think people should be able to take the body to a local vet without the fear of getting in trouble. If it becomes illegal to kill a cat then people would be even less likely to stop and help the cat/find the owner. It is very heartless to just drive off though in my opinion.

Also my cat wasn't disposable to me reading the last comment. I was devastated but I don't understand why people agree that dogs need to be walked everyday and yet it's fine for a cat to live it's whole life indoors. If a dog was kept indoors 100% of the time it would be considered cruel.

You seem to forget the kind souls who pick up other people’s destruction on the daily. Wildlife rehabbers who try their hardest to fix the atrocious injuries inflicted by cats (for fun) on other animals just trying to live their lives.

This is at significant financial and emotional cost to themselves, as it’s often futile with the delicate garden birds who are simply too stressed to cope much of the time.

Not supporting outdoor cats is not a sign of not being an animal lover or kind person, it is quite the opposite.

You can walk a cat on a lead, thousands do. You can build a suitable garden pen for your cat to enjoy the outdoors safely. You can play with and enrich your cat indoors as well. Chucking them out into dangers, and deliberately causing death to hundreds of other animals is incredibly cruel. To use “cruelty” as an argument for an outdoor cat is laughable hypocrisy. If you’re not able to provide a suitable environment for a cat, then don’t choose one as a pet.

You’re comparing apples and oranges there because dog owners don’t open the front door, let their pet out and hope for the best as they run back and forth across the local roads. Cat owners seem to think that, in the name of their animal having freedom, they should let them out to do whatever they want, without taking a single bit of responsibility for what goes on when they’re not at home.

Dog owners would be in trouble if they did that and their animal caused an accident. That is why there is no requirement to report running over a cat.

Unless you’d also like to be legally responsible for your cat when it’s outside the house?

I can provide a suitable environment for a cat, I have a cat proofed garden to keep the cat safe as my flat isn't big enough for an indoor only cat. As well as that I don't want to worry about a cat escaping. Yes my (hypothetical) cat can catch any wildlife if it's so inclined but I do nothing to encourage anything into the garden. There's nothing else I can do

If the cat never leaves your premises then that’s a secured and safe cat. That’s all anyone is asking for. It’s letting them roam freely that causes so much harm (to the cats included!)

If it becomes illegal to kill a cat then people would be even less likely to stop and help the cat/find the owner.

It’s never going to become illegal to kill a cat. Sometimes accidents are unavoidable.

It's up to you to provide a stimulating environment for your pet. Dogs can actually be kept home if they have enough to keep them occupied at home such as plenty of land to run around in, plenty of toys and interaction but if not then owners need to TAKE them iut which is complety different to LETTING them out.
You can actually provide this for a cat at home or take them out yourself under supervision.

Exactly! I would be very, very pleased to have a neighbour that kept their cats within their yard.

To be honest I did it for my cat, nothing to do with the local wildlife! Harry had lost his teeth so if he got into a fight (he didn't generally, he was a fast runner!) he was at a disadvantage. It doesn't really help any wildlife that ventures in but there's not a lot I can do about that.

As well as that a few years ago there were a group of little shits with catapult attacking anything they could see. I'm hoping the evil little bastards fell in the river and drowned as we haven't heard from them for a while but I'm sure the next lot will come along.

And yes, I do mean I hope they drowned, they catapulted the male of an established pair of geese and left him to die.

I mean, it doesn’t really matter what your main reason is, it’s the right thing to do. If your focus is your cat, that’s fine. It just also advantages other people, wildlife and pets.

Yep, can’t abide people who harm animals like that. Interesting, though, are people who would happily hang those youths for harming a goose, lynch dog owners whose dogs have attached a swan….. but happily allow their cats out killing and injuring animals on their behalf! The irony! 🤦🏻‍♀️

What so many people fail to realise is that dogs aren't the same as cats. It's in a cat's nature to roam. It's just how they're programmed. All the ranting and raving about cat owners being uncaring and selfish fails to take that into account. There are some cats that would be very unhappy if confined, that would be actively distressed if not allowed to go out to follow their natural instincts.

Some people are just so entrenched in their rabid hatred of cats that they get hysterical about what is really a fairly minor inconvenience. My car and some of the windows of my house. I'll have to clean that too. Should birds then be banned, or some sort of a 'no fly' zone put around my house?!!!

You all need to get yourselves a cat. I guarantee you would change your mind about them. I know someone who while not a cat hater, wasn't a fan either, until a cat adopted her. She adores that cat now and the cat appears onscreen sometimes in team meetings.

It's really not ironic as you're not comparing like for like. The youths were acting cruelly in full knowledge and understanding of their actions, while a cat is just acting on instinct.

Let’s assume for a moment that it was safe for the driver to stop. The driver adores cats, but does not carry around supplies for dealing with cats.

if the cat is dead, what do you propose the driver use to physically move the body off the road? Should the driver pick up the remains with bare hands?

if the goal is to take the body to a vet to check the microchip, are they supposed to just put the possibly bloody body straight into their car?

if the cat is injured and possibly aggressive, how do you propose the driver pick up the cat? How do they safely transport the cat? How do they get the cat to hold still and not move around the car? How do they prevent the cat from scratching or biting?

Is it unreasonable to stop and spend time tracking down the owners and handing over your details? Yes, absolutely.

Is it unreasonable to stop, and provide assistance to the animal you've just injured or quite possibly killed? No, absolutely not, and infact, anyone who has hit an animal should stop and do their best to provide care for it.
What kind of heartless bastard just keeps driving if they noticed it?