Do people really drive round / get a taxi with dead cats ???

[Isthisreallyathing]

Sadly found a deceased cat outside my home so posted on the local fb group a description and location. Then I get loads of replies telling me to take it to a vet to be scanned - I don’t drive and have a sleeping toddler ! They call me selfish and suggest getting a taxi !!

Do people really do this ? AIBU not to ?? (I don’t think I am but 100% of responses were telling me to get the cat scanned for a chip to locate owners)

There should be a local page for pets lost and found. They may be more helpful than general public ranting on.

Oh god I'm one of those people who put an injured seagull in a box. I don't drive so another passer by brought them to a rescue.

Poor kitty, this is why my cat is strictly indoors, much more work but he's happy and safe. I'd probably have checked the collar for a phone number and if not put him in a box and brought in a taxi to a vets. ONLY because I don't have a toddler and not much else to do!

I think you absolutely did the right thing OP, surely there are local people who are in the position to bring him in. So many cats go missing and the owners don't know what happened to them, if my cat somehow went missing I would be scouring the local facebook pages and would rather know if the worst had happened, instead of constantly posting in false hope.

Many people would have walked right by unfortunately.

No to the taxi but I do drive and would take a dead cat to the vets.

(I have had cats for many years and buried a few so dead cat bodies don't bother me)

I once picked up a dead cat on the road, Took it to the nearest house who denied it was theirs. I tried neighbouring houses. Nope. Then I was just left with a dead cat. I could hardly put it back on the road, could I?
I reason if it was my cat I'd want someone to do what they could. I drove with said dead cat to a vets.

In your situation, no of course YANBU. To be honest, even without the sleeping toddler situation, not everyone could afford the taxi.

But as a pp said, could you put gloves on and check the collar for details? And move it somewhere predators can’t easily get at it if you can. And ideally ring around local vet’s tomorrow to see if they know anyone who might come out to scan?

I know it’s a lot of extra work but it is likely someone’s beloved pet - it probably is microchipped and it can be hard for even the most devoted owner to balance a cats want to roam vs their safety.

I wish someone had found our missing cat and done the same for her She was a rescue and wouldn’t have tolerated being stuck indoors all the time and too wary/shy to have followed someone else “home” - but it was gutting for us not to have any closure.

Put on facebook that you don't drive and have a sleeping toddler and ask if someone else could collect it.

I would go and collect it if I could and have done so before.

I wouldn't dream of picking up a dead animal and taking it anywhere (and I do drive). I would take an injured animal though.

You have to factor in that most local facebook groups have dim bulbs in them with their own agenda
Posted today on ours someone posted about a huge xl bully that was on the loose near her house. Said that dog warden was on the way so if it belonged to anyone they should come over quick.
Apparently she had sentenced to dog to death and should have just taken said xl bully into her home and looked after it.
Dim bulbs

I had a very similar experience last winter- found a dead cat in my garden at 9pm, posted a description on the local lost pets forum and was harangued about not taking it to the emergency vet there and then. I did wrap it up and put it somewhere safe and took it in first thing in the morning but I was made to feel guilty for not doing so immediately.

I would just leave the cat where it is. A fox will soon take it away. It is the owner fault for letting it out.

I remember that thread! It was crazy with the 'suggestions' of what you should do if you hit and injure/kill an animal by accident, or came across one totally disregarding any situation like the quoted poster where taking them anywhere is if not impossible then dangerous!

Some people are just ready to have a go at someone else @Isthisreallyathing regardless of any circumstances. Cats roam and sometimes they get hit by cars, it's horrible for the cat and the owner I agree, and any way you can help is a decent thing to do, and you did that. I would probably take a cat to my vets, but I drive and my child is 21, so completely different circumstances.

I wouldn't be paying for a taxi and trying to wrestle a toddler there and back in a taxi, a FB post is enough, maybe a call to a local vets.

If they were genuinely that bothered about the owner and not just using an excuse to be a keyboard warrior, surely they'd have just quietly come and got the cat and taken it to the vets, not mouthed off on Facebook about what you didn't do and did bugger all themselves.

A cranky toddler, a dead cat and a taxi sound like an absolutely dreadful combination. Overtired toddler will probably have a screaming fit, and you'll end up leaving the cat in the taxi. Or, while you're paying, the toddler will get into the box and the cat will end up on the seat of the taxi. I love cats too, but there's nothing you can do for this one and this feels like a step too far. Ask if someone with a car/no child can collect the cat and, if not, you've done your bit.

I love cats but I wouldn’t be annoyed at anyone not taking my dead car to the vets - especially in your situation. Keyboard worriers are tiresome.

I went to see a dead cat that had been reported on next-door as I thought it could be my sons cat. I took a box with me with the intention of taking it to a vets if it wasn't but when I saw the cat oh my God the smell! It was in "active decay" mode and there was no way I was touching it let alone putting it in my car. I agonised over what to do so the next day I went back with the intention of reporting it to the council but someone had already done so as there was no trace of the cat except a tuft of fur. 7 weeks later my sons cat came home so I just hope this poor dead cat was identified

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/lost-found-and-feral-cats/found-dead-cat

Yeah I will often go and collect and take to the vets
If you can't then advice is to move it out the road, and post on a local group and someone (like me) will usually collect and take to a vets where cat can be scanned

Councils don't always scan so it leaves an owner not knowing what's happened. I use donations of big bath towels to collect so the cat doesn't have to be put in a bin bag like rubbish

This is probably the best group to post in as there's a network of volunteers
Posting in case someone comes across the thread in future

I love you.

There are angry and judgemental people sitting on every locality's social page, just waiting for an opportunity to behave badly.

Hmm. I drive so I've actually picked up two dead cats and taken them to the vets. For both reasons it was so they wouldn't get 'eaten' overnight by foxes etc as they were both in good condition facially so to speak. I lost my cat to a car and I'd have been devastated if someone had posted but hadn't actually done anything

BUT i wouldn't expect someone to pay for a taxi.

Just ensure you give details of where it is, say you have no way of taking it to a vet, is anyone else able to.

This.

Your mistake, OP, was to engage with bored people whose grip on reality is tenuous.

The cat groups on Facebook are something else. They expect the world to stop if there's a dead cat or missing cat. I made the mistake of finding one on my way into work, people then commented saying how selfish I was for continuing with my day and not picking up the dead cat and taking it to the vets.

Ugh, it's easy for people to berate you online, but if they aren't prepared to drive over and take the cat themselves, they can get bent.

It's sad for the cat, but with regards to the owner "knowing what happened" - if they let the cat roam, and it doesn't come home, it's usually been run over. That's the risk of letting your cats out.

Yup. I'm not terribly bright...I was thinking that someone somewhere had a taxi containing fine examples of the taxidermist's art.

How many of the ones posting giving you abuse actually volunteered to help you out and take the cat themselves? I bet there wasn’t many. Ignore them @Isthisreallyathing! In an ideal world, yes, it’s a nice thing to do if someone is able to take the poor animal to the vet to allow the owner to be identified. But it’s just not practical for everyone!
I don’t drive, have a pre-school aged child, no family nearby and my husband works away at sea for months at a time.
If I found a cat within business hours and had something to carry it in then I could realistically walk it to our local vet within 20/25 mins,which I would do.
Outwith business hours I’d have to take the cat home and have a taxi meet us there to install DSs car seat, then take a 45 min taxi each way to the out of hours vet in our area which I couldn’t afford to do!