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Original poster

To think that you should STOP if you run over someones cat in a village!!

84 replies

rebelmum1 · 29/09/2008 09:48

Someone in a car ran over a cat in the village I drive through this morning and didn't stop!! We swerverd to avoid the poor twitching creature. This is not a main rd it is a village next to the local primary school. I'm horrified!

a) it could have easily been a child
b) little children will see it on the way to school
c) it could get squashed again
d) if you have squashed something that belongs to someone and is obviously loved it's courtesy to STOP, at least move it off the bloody rd!

Why to people become so disconnected when they get in their car?

Is it not common courtesy to stop or am I being unreasonable?

OP posts:
MaryAnnSingleton · 29/09/2008 10:47

sparkly

SparklyGothKat · 29/09/2008 10:50

The vet said it would have been quick, It was about 1 minutes from when I hit her, to when she slumped in the car. I knew when I picked her up that she wouldn't survive, as she had opened her bowels and had blood coming from her mouth. It took me a long time to come to terms with what happened, and even now I look at that driveway and feel sick

Eddas · 29/09/2008 10:52

you don't have to stop for a cat though. you have to stop for a dog but not a cat. Maybe they hadn't realised what they'd hit until it was too late to stop?

It would've shaken them up(whoever was driving), yes they may be wrong not to stop, but you don't know what the circumstances were. You weren't in the car.

If it's not a legal requirement to stop then there's no issue.

Also, cats often get up and run off straight away, even if they are very injured. So they may not have caught it anyway.

TheHedgeWitch · 29/09/2008 10:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

SparklyGothKat · 29/09/2008 10:54

eddas, my vet said that even though I saw my cat run away (and she ran quite a distance considering she was so badly hurt) that it was a reflex thing and she was basically dead as soon as I ran her over

TheHedgeWitch · 29/09/2008 10:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mumblechum · 29/09/2008 11:01

Agree that Rebel should have got her dh to stop.
I recently saw a rabbit writhing in a country lane with its back broken.

I reversed & ran over it to kill it.

It was horrid, but not as bad as thinking about the poor thing being in agony for God knows how long.

Eddas · 29/09/2008 11:03

I know SGK, i was just meaning that if you hit a cat, they might not be there once you've stopped. I know the often run off into bushes or home and then die.

I'm pretty sure my cat was run over about 18 months ago. That was the vet's diagnosis. Dh found her sitting on our tumble dryer looking like a horror movie extra I got her to the vets PDQ and he said if i'd been a few minutes later she would've died. She's lucky we had pet insurance as it cost way over £1k for the operations and tiem in the oxygen tank etc.

She(my cat) was also lucky that home is close to the road. othrwise I thinkwe'd have just not known that she had been hit and just wouldn't have seen her again.

She still runs around the road without a care in the world cats obviously don't learn from their mistakes! The other day I saw her dart out in front of a car

SparklyGothKat · 29/09/2008 11:05

yes I know thats what you meant

emma1977 · 29/09/2008 11:06

My cat has been missing for over 2 months.

I really upsets me to think that someone may have hit her and not stopped or done anything about it. Either that, or disposed or her body in a manner by just throwing her away, not taking her to a vet.

I have to accept that I may never know and I will probably never see her again.

I know some people are completely unsentimental about animals and don't understand the fuss when a pet goes missing or gets killed. However, these pets are usually loved by someone somewhere and to know that a total stranger cared enough to stop and seek help in the event of an accident would be a huge comfort.

SparklyGothKat · 29/09/2008 11:08

my other cat is missing AGAIN, he is a real wanderer and goes missing for months.. then comes home when he is feeling poorly.. I am sure he is a six-dinner-sid as he always looks healthy when he returns lol

Eddas · 29/09/2008 11:09

the thing with cats is that you just don't know where they go. My BIL's cat went missing, it was eventually returned as it was chipped. some other people had taken it in then felt guilty(after a few weeks) and had taken it to a vet who checked for a chip and took it back to BIL. It kept running back to the other family though so BIL let them keep it!

SparklyGothKat · 29/09/2008 11:10

my cat is chipped too, not that it stops other people feeding him

geekgirl · 29/09/2008 11:10
SparklyGothKat · 29/09/2008 11:15

he is a nightmare. He was shot with an air rifle a few years back and has a pin in his leg now. he suffers with FLUTD and pees blood if fed the wrong food, so everytime he goes missing, he comes home peeing blood and has to go to the vets He is a huge tabby and never once looked skinny when he has been missing, and he was missing for 2 months last year!!!

BCNS · 29/09/2008 11:17

I have run over a cat .. on a main road and couldn't stop.. so I reported it ASAP to the police..I asked then to let me know if the owners were found.. I felt awful!!

Trouble is when I hit the cat... which darted out from the side of the road like a bullet..I didn't have time to serve.. but.. if I had it could have cause an accident on a very busy road. ( looking back )

I was never contacted back about any owners... and I will feel guilty to this day!

pushchair · 29/09/2008 11:27

So what would you do if this happened to you and the cat was twitching? Am not a driver but wondered if I could kill an injured animal.

monkeymonkeymonkey · 29/09/2008 11:28

Rebelmum1

Your DH couldnt know that the cat was dying. Since when is twitching an unmistakable sign of a dying animal.

The people who hit the cat may not have realised.

emma1977 One of my cats dissapeared and was returned to us 2 months later by the cats protection league, so hopefully your cat is just on an extended vacation.
Its horrible when they vanish and you never know what happened

smurfgirl · 29/09/2008 11:38

I don't understand why your DH could not stop - surely you could just ask him??

pushchair · 29/09/2008 11:42

I think I would be yelling STOP and make him

mayorquimby · 29/09/2008 11:46

in fairness you shouldn't have swerved to avoid it.that was much more likely to have resulted in an accident and the "it could have been a child scenario" that you are worried about.

that's one thing drivers have to learn.if you are on a road with other traffic you do not swerve for cats or dogs only humans (or animals larger than humans that could kill you if you hit them)

you grit your teeth and hit the animal because swerving suddenly is much more likely to result in a human fatality.

shootfromthehip · 29/09/2008 11:53

Presumably the point is not whether or not someone should have hit the cat but whether or not they should have dealt with hitting the cat? In the OP's defense, I have been in a car with my DH and have asked him to stop and he has refused. There is nothing you can do about that short of pulling the handbrake which may result in some casualties or at least a divorce

RedOnHerHead · 29/09/2008 11:57

rebelmum1
you wrote ... "driving at that speed and with that little care in a built up area next to a primary school isn't responsible.. "

Was your husband not driving behind the person who hit the cat? - therefore driving at the same "irresponsible" speed in a built up area next to a primary school?

OhYouBadBadKitten · 29/09/2008 12:08

Am really sad that you and your dh didnt stop. The cat was probably really suffering. Also children going past would have to walk past this poor injured creature.

Am sorry about your cat Emma - she may turn up still, I hope so.

emma1977 · 29/09/2008 18:16

MMM and OYBBK- Thanks.

This thread has reminded me of a friend who ran over a dog during his driving test while reversing round a corner. He stopped. And failed.

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