Being told to pay vet bill

[majesticallycurvy]

Long story short, we accidentally hit a cat through no fault of ours and the cat unfortunately passed away. We offered our condolences to the owners and are sorry for their loss, but they are hounding us to pay their vet bill.

It's a no from us but we're being slandered over it...

Wwyd?

This. Do not pay it they are cf's to suggest it

OP, anyone reading that FB post will conclude that they are in the wrong. Do not pay anything.

Nope, not your responsibility, cats out 'in the wild' are at risk and owners can choose to insure and they can choose to not let them roam. These owners presumably chose neither. Thats very much on them.

Don't be ridiculous. You sound like the idiots on my local Facebook group who are making similar comments and calling for the introduction of a 20mph speed limit across the entire village, because a cat was found having been hit by a car. The ridiculous continued even when someone pointed out that it was impossible to speed on the part of the road the cat was found. Cats can dart out, very quickly, often from under or between cars. A dead cat (however sad that is) does not indicate at all that someone was speeding.

I have a cat. She goes outdoors as I believe it's cruel to keep them in. Cats are not fully domesticated and as such to have the best quality of life they need to roam. That means accepting that they may have a shorter life because of harm that may come to them when out and about, including the possibility they are hit by a car. And I wouldn't be expecting the car driver to pay any vets bills!

It’s almost like people who say this have no idea how fast animals move.

dont want your cat killed? Dont let it out

I think it’s cruel to let cats outside in areas with roads because so many get run over (not to mention them decimating local wildlife and peeing/pooing in peoples’ gardens). I’d definetly report the Facebook post, it might get taken down.

camera footage of me in my car inc reg plate and put it on FB alongside a horrible post. The camera footage was from a house on the road. I think it might have been cctv actually not a doorbell due to the angles.

I got it taken down

Good update.

deregister from face book op, that is awful and unreasonable of them

oh just seen you got it taken down,, Very good

A cat can run under your wheels from between parked cars without you even seeing it

I wouldn't pay a penny.

Although I don't really understand why there's a vet bill in the first place if the cat died?

If i had seen a post like that on facebook op@majesticallycurvy I would have reported it myself

wicked behaviour

My parents dog ran into a road and got hit by and car and the car claimed owner claimed off my parent for the damage ( he is a big soppy dog easily distracted by food and my mum unfortunately had him off the lead ).

Vets still charge, even if they can't save the animal!

The only way to deal with this sort of entitled twat is to tell them to fuck off at every opportunity.

Despite it being a complete accident, I think I would personally feel the need to pay the bill

You are the reason CF exist.

If anything the cat owner should be taking responsibility for putting you in a position where you killed an animal. I would be utterly distraught and traumatised if I'd hit a cat. They owe you an apology for choosing to have a roaming domestic animal and putting you in that situation.

Peace of mind of not having large surprise bills. But you’re still ultimately statistically likely to pay way more in insurance over their life than any vet bills that would arise. That’s how the insurance industry makes money.

People like her are the reason others won’t stop and knock if they have hit your dear fluffykins.

Just ignore her and keep hold of the screenshots. Also ask a friend or dh to keep an eye out for more posts.

My cat was hit about 4 years ago. Driver took her to the vet. I would never have dreamt of asking for money. The poor driver was devastated. But as others have said it is the risk of owning an outdoors cat.

Have the Police responded at all?

There is one on fb this morning about shaming someone for not stopping - though poster couldn’t locate cat . People get very over the top about animals who dart in front of cars..

Did you do anything to help the cat and let the owner know at the time? Or did you just drive off and that's why she's posted the CCTV, to which you've replied with an apology?

Yep!

There was a poster a while ago who hit a cat. The owners harassed her for ages over it and wanted the money for the cremation etc.

Stand your ground, OP. It’s the risk they took having an outdoor cat!