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 is shocking- they shouldn't even have let a deaf cat outside, they're meant to be kept indoors!

None of which precludes them from being entitled twats. There could be entitlement here without anything to do with money, given that some cat owners think they're entitled to have pets roam freely and then not accept responsibility when they get hit by a car.

Regardless of what you think cat owners, it doesn't mean the animal deserves to suffer. It is not "entitled" to think it is cruel to leave an animal to die after you've hit it with your car.

None of us know why they reacted the way they did. Which is why I'm asking.

Didn't mention the animal's suffering at all, so that's a non-sequitur. Also, OP has stated that the animal ran off. You have no idea what attempts she made to find it or whether it would've actually been possible, so the left to die bit is something you've made up.

They are entitled twats.

I've made nothing up lol. I have no idea what attempts she made to find the cat which is why I asked her.

You wrote:

'It is not "entitled" to think it is cruel to leave an animal to die after you've hit it with your car.'

As you admit yourself that you don't know whether that's what actually happened, you made it up. If you didn't think OP had done that, you wouldn't have related it to what I wrote.

The cat ran away, what was OP supposed to do?

Stopped and pulled over but couldn't see where cat went as it ran off. Cats roam, it could have lived anywhere.

Knocked on a door and let someone know maybe

🤦🏻‍♀️

Thank you for answering.

To clarify a few comments, cat was not left to die or was left dead. I would definitely not do that! Cat ran off, we did not even know if we hit the cat or if it was a near miss. Pulled the car over but could not see where it went. Even drove that way again and walked the road later. Cats roam like many people have said and could have lived in any of the nearby roads, especially if it was a Tom cat as they roam quite far!

I have definitely got my answers from this thread of wwyd and am grateful for everyone's response, thank you. It's nice there are many reasonable people after all.

OK, but which door? Every door? And it sounds like OP didn't get a good look at the cat so what would she have said?

Strange question, but are you sure the cat actually died and if so, any proof that it was you who ran it over? They could be scammers

Fair point!

This!! Ours got hit and killed in a horrific way…: we found out because someone posted a picture (of her the way she was found 😢) on Facebook. This was then seen by my teen daughter causing a LOT of distress. Someone even drove past her as my partner was wrapping her in a towel, clearly crying etc and said “oh is that Burgers cat, I thought so” then drove off!!! If more people at least stopped (not always possible I know) it would have saved a lot of upset.

I don’t think you should pay the bills..:. Cats are a risk. You did the right thing merely by stopping imo.

No, I realise that the cats aren't wanting to die.

I don't have any issue at all with the word killed when used passively - 'the cat was killed' is absolutely accurate - but when you say 'the driver killed the cat', that apportions blame that is very frequently unfair.

Yes, if the driver was speeding, drunk, careless, looking down at their phone etc. - I would agree that they very probably were responsible and thus 'the driver killed the cat' is indeed a fair statement; but when a driver is making safe, careful, legal progress and a small creature dashes from nowhere and jumps straight in front of the wheels, saying 'the driver killed the cat' is just incorrect and ascribing entirely non-existent blame.

'The cat was killed by a collision with a car' is accurate, pending further information; using language that automatically implicates and blames the driver is careless, at best, and slanderous/libellous, at worst, unless and until there is any reasonable suspicion of driver error.

This is ridiculous. I hit a cat once, I couldn't have been doing more than 10-15 mph as I had just turned out of a side road. The cat appeared from behind a fence and (very sadly) ran straight under my car wheel.

I'd never thought of that - but that could be a really successful grift idea if scammers did want to do it.

You're really overthinking this. "Killed" just means you caused the death of something. Nothing more than that. It doesn't imply blame.

Yes, there's some real straw clutching happening here.

Yes, quite.

It's only kind to try to find the owner if it is practical to do so; but the whole world doesn't revolve around your cat that you allow to roam freely, knowing very well that cats frequently dash right in front of car wheels when given their freedom to wander.

Although most people would never wish an animal harm, to a great many, it's 'just some cat' if it does unfortunately come a cropper.

No, you're still really not getting my point - whether intentionally or not.

You didn't 'cause the death' of an animal that sprang right in front of the vehicle you happened to be driving - any more than a wall 'caused' your death if you decided to sprint at it full pelt and headbutt it.

I wasn't going to respond to that because the OP had already answered my questions and I didn't think so many people here would need help with thinking about what door to knock on.

Just knock on the door nearest to where the cat ran off. Knock knock "Hi there. Sorry to disturb you. A cat just ran in front of my car. I'm not even sure if I hit it and I can't see where it went. If you hear of someone looking for a cat later, can you tell them it headed that way. Thanks."

I just don't agree 🤷‍♀️