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So , to summerise .
Its a cat , but cats have feelings too , as do their owners.
I 'should' have stopped somewhere safely and either dispatched said cat to a better place , or made a token effort to find its owner(s) so they could have either got it fixed or put down.
But it is still a cat , and the over excited Audi behind pulled up . If I had gone full ABS stop the Audi would probably have rammed me from behind. Then we would be having the awkward conversation with the traffic police. " You caused an accident doing an E-stop for a cat?"
You look down and see a tortoise, Leon. It's crawling toward you...
Then we would be having the awkward conversation with the traffic police. ” You caused an accident doing an E-stop for a cat?”
That's just trying to justify it. This forum is weird, people get really irate over nothing (ie. "I got caught doing 35 in a 30", HOW DARE YOUUUUU"), but not many seem bothered about this.
This was an accident, hard to avoid, but you should have checked it out. No one wants to be knocking doors presenting dead pets, but needs to be tried.
This coming from some one quite selfish with a limited moral compass.
I hate the bloody things. I would've looked for the owner if my car was damaged.
This was an accident, hard to avoid, but you should have checked it out.
I've run over 2 both killed outright . Stopped both times cat 1 I found its owner and gave them the poor thing. Cat 2 I couldn't but took it to my local vet who scanned it for a chip, there wasn't one but nicely offered to dispose of it for £40 !! I declined and buried it in the kids pet cemetery in our back garden. I know to some cats are seen as a disposable item but they are often much loved family pets and deserve a bit of consideration.
@taxi25 - Good man, not nice but I'd appreciate it if it was me.
I have a cat, originally at the behest of the girlfriend, but I'd be upset if he got run over (part of which would be due to the gf being very upset).
I come from a dog family; people that do don't see that cat owners see them as a part of the family as much as dogs are to others.
You justify it anyway you like singletrackmind.
No one's seriously saying you should search the planet for the owners or cause an accident by checking the poor thing out but the breathtaking callousness shown here for someone's treasured pet is disgusting. At least check on its condition and put it at the side of the road to avoid it being smeared everywhere.
This place would implode if the OP was swapped with 'cat' for 'dog'!
Well it's not quite yet imploded when a few of us have sad many motorists hate us 'husbands/wives/sons/daughters/fathers/mothers on a bike, so can't expect someone to give a shoot about a cat/dog can you.
OP should ideally have stopped when safe then checked, fairly simple really.
I'd have backed up. Just to be sure.
Why would you even post this up if not to get attention or troll a subject you know is bound to stir up trouble on a forum like this?
Yes, you should feel ashamed. And that's a polite version of what I think of you. Anyone who thinks "it's just a cat" clearly shouldn't have pets of any sort.
A few years back, our cat was hit, the driver buggered off and left him to die after we'd been worried for hours. Fortunately the much kinder/human person behind who saw it happen took him to an emergency vets an hour away who scanned him and called us. He was in a bad way, initially couldn't see or stand up. We thought we'd have to put him down. The following day, he was much better and after x-rays, turned out only to have a fractured femur and nerve damage. Now, you can't even tell he'd had an accident other than a slightly flatter nose and a scar. He still behaves like a kitten. It cost us over £4k to get it all sorted and I'd pay it again without question.
If that person hadn't stopped, he would have frozen slowly to death. In pain. The very least you should have done is stopped to check. Our kids would have been heartbroken to find out he'd been left to die by some selfish toss pot who doesn't care about someone else's pet and family member. You need to have a good look at yourself as a person, and so do some of the other people on this forum.
How you feline OP?
I once ran over a cat and immediately stopped to see if it was okay. Luckily it was a glancing blow. I felt so relieved until I realised I was on the M6 and there was an 87,000 car pile up behind me*
*some of the above may not be true.
I just hope his mates don’t find you because then you’ll be in serious shit.
Four grand?
4000 POUNDS?
Yes, I'd say with emergency care, x-rays, operations and follow ups plus meds, it was easily £4000. Possibly more but we stopped adding it up. The moral - get insurance!
A few people said that they'd never pay that "just for a cat", but what were we supposed to do? He was less than a year old and only had a broken leg, and to us he is a member of our family. It was worth it just for my kids not being sad. I value that more than money - although we are still paying it off now and I've had to sacrifice a new bike!
Yep - its a dilemma. Not sure i would stop either. Just a whole lot of grief, and potentially lots of money too if its still moving.
No law broken.
I've been unfortunate enough to have had a few run ins with domestic or wild animals over the decades. I've always stopped. Purely instinctive to do so for me. The guilt of leaving any animal suffering would do my head in to be honest.
Oh, and I wouldn't blame the driver for hitting the cat. Quite the opposite - cats are idiots.
What I can't excuse is not stopping at the very least, and having some consideration for the owners. I can't really understand why it's law to stop and report dogs being hit and not cats. But then I can't stand dogs.
mulv1976 such a good guy, i like cats too and everyone I've had over the years was treated like a family member
I'm no cat lover and was getting amused at how polar the discussion has predictably become, as we debate over the family tenderness of our murderous death floofs.
However
No law broken
Never confuse legality with morality, that's a lazy cop-out.
I can’t really understand why it’s law to stop and report dogs being hit and not cats
As they're semi-wild, they can shit in my garden and I can run them over?
I'd certainly stop and check if it was safe to do so, there's plenty of roads (e.g. single carriageway A roads with no verges) where it wouldn't be without risking your own or other people's lives, a cat isn't worth that.
No chance would I pay £40 for a vet to dispose of the corpse either, it would go in the nearest bin I found outside (or under some bushes if there was no bin). That's assuming the vet could somehow stop me leaving without the corpse in the first place...
I’ve finished off a sheep I found in the hills that had fallen off a cliff and was writhing in pain. Also a deer that I found at the side of the road in a similar state. Very unpleasant
Waitwut? This needs further explanation. Sheep are pretty big. How did you dispatch the beasty?
10:1 ‘strangled it with bare hands’
8:1 ‘slit its throat with a pocket knife that I keep for just such eventualities’
Evens: ‘smashed in its head wiv a rock’
Any other bets?
Any other bets?
A set of Italian suspension forks?
‘slit its throat with a pocket knife that I keep for just such eventualities’
🙂 Doesn't everyone have one of those........
Sadly nothing so clinical - a ****ing big rock I could barely lift dropped a couple of times from chest height on the poor thing's head. It was not a pretty sight. The 2nd drop was not really needed but didn't really want to worry I'd not definately dispatched it quickly in the future.
The deer - a club hammer that was in the boot (by coincidence - promise!) to the noggin.
I think I might be a psychopath!
Blimey! mrmo was lucky it wasn't you that hit him...
Well this thread has taken a strange dark twist!
club hammer that was in the boot (by coincidence – promise!)
You didn't also have some tarpaulin and a hacksaw too?
slit its throat with a pocket knife
I've done this. Well not a pocket knife and i was holding said very deformed lamb while my dad did the deed.
Christ its harrowing.
Stoving a skull in though. Jeez thats going to leave an imprint on the back if your eyelids.
I didn't stop for the dear i hit. I woukd have done but it was the middle of the night on an unlit windy a road with nothing to walk on roadside. First place i could find was half a mile down the road i ummed and aahed then decided it jusg wasn't safe to go back. Pretty rubbish feeling.
big rock I could barely lift dropped a couple of times from chest height on the poor thing’s head. It was not a pretty sight. The 2nd drop was not really needed but didn’t really want to worry I’d not definately dispatched it quickly in the future.
Remind me not to go for a ride with convert. Lying on the ground writhing in pain is something I do a fair bit of 😬😬
Stoving a skull in though. Jeez thats going to leave an imprint on the back if your eyelids.
Yeah, I couldn't even look at the baby rabbit my dog got hold of. Hid it under some mud before bonkin it on the head. Still remember the little things squeaks (before I hit it, of course). 🙁
Remind me not to go for a ride with convert. Lying on the ground writhing in pain is something I do a fair bit of
🙂
I only get itchy fingers if my riding buddies turn down a jelly baby. Then you know it's probably for the best.
You can get into trouble with the stop and finish it off approach as happened to a friend of mine supposedly. He works as a chippy and was driving home from work when he ran over a cat. Stopped and got out to finish it off with a hammer . Saw the cat lying at the side of the road . Did the deed only to have a woman come running up to him screaming what have you done to my cat , which it turned out had been sunning itself at the side of the road . The cat he had just run over was 20 yards further up the road .
was he billy connelys mate too
Iv'e despatched many a Cod using a sawn off ex prison pool cue.
It's only a fish.
As you didn’t stop to check, I’m sure the Schrodinger household will be wondering where their cat is by now
You should have stopped.
Wasted opportunity for ecologically sourced roadkill BBQ meat.
I had a Chinese girlfriend when I was a student who used to kill cats. She grew up during the Cultural Revolution so owning a cat was a confession of being one of the bourgeoisie and people would hunt them down and eat them. She hated them, along with snakes and dogs, which they also used to eat because food was so scarce. Anyway, I used to live in this really grotty old flat in an area with loads of really mangy stray cats and she moved in next door. She was kinda cute looking so I was really keen to get naked with her and overlooked how mental she was. She really, really hated the stray cats hanging around begging for food, so she used to lure them inside and catch them and drown them in the bath. With hindsight, that should have been a red flag, but I always found it really difficult to persuade good-looking sober ladies to get naked with me, so was willing to overlook it. Then, after my mum died, I got a bit depressed and got hammered pretty much every day, so she started pestering me with "Do you love me?" shit, obviously meaning "Do you want to get married and make babies?", which I did not. Anyways, turns out "I don't know" is not the right answer to "Do you love me?", so she stormed off in a furious rage and moved flats the next day. That seemed ok, but then she kept stalking me for a year or so until I finally moved out and didn't tell her where I was going. Now I'm a bit older and wiser I can see that I should have avoided her as soon as the cat killing thing came to light. She was bloody hopeless in bed too, really lazy, would just lie there and be totally disinterested in what was going on. Bit off-putting really.
Thanks hols2 for that - and to think we’ve just bought tickets to see David Sedaris June 2020.
She was bloody hopeless in bed too, really lazy, would just lie there and be totally disinterested in what was going on.
Maybe you weren't turning her on. Should have drowned a few cats together as a bit of foreplay to get her in the mood.
My 2p, stop, check cat and drag to side / pavement, cover to make decent if a right mess, and check for any number on collar and ring that. Otherwise advise nearest vet where it is. Job done.
Never confuse legality with morality, that’s a lazy cop-out.
Unless you're talking taxes. Never pay something to the government out of moral obligation that you legally don't have to.
I'd have stopped but the idea of dispatching a half-dead cat is worse than the thought of actually hitting one in the first place.
And to be honest I think the vast majority of people would actually make the situation worse - people are simply not conditioned or trained to kill animals swiftly and humanely and will almost always make things worse (like trying to drop a rock on it's head but only stunning it).
4000 POUNDS?!
A friend's cat was hit by a car and her and her boyfriend both maxed out their credit cards to pay for the surgery. Probably cost them nearly twice that.
My sister is a vet - years ago a couple brought their cat to her asking for it to be put down as it had been hit by a car. They simply didn't want a potentially injured cat although they were happy to pay for it to be put down. Anyway, the funds went towards putting it into the vet hospital and eventually my sister adopted it as very few people want a cat that's had an injury. That cat is now about 10 years old, still perfectly healthy and has been with my sister ever since.
Epic and awesome twist on page 3 of this thread!
Anyway I'm with uncle Fred on this.
Maybe it would have been morally better for the op to at least have stopped to make sure it was dead / finished it off / tried to find the owner.
But ultimately, the risk of this happening comes with owning a cat. It is the cat's owner who has taken this risk and so responsibility lies with them, and not the squasher.
Personally I would stop if I could but it would depend on the circumstances at the time. E.g. if unsafe / no way I would be expending an hour of missed work. Sorry if you think that's callous, but I refer you to Uncle Fred.
Hols2
And that’s why I trawl through post after boring post of tedious nonsense about cats - pure gold, I have done a fair amount of thinking with my little head too, but a Chinese cat drowning woman is pretty special.
The wife makes me keep a trenching tool in the back of the car to dig myself out of snow drifts, I have pointed out on at least one occasion that it is more likely to get used to dispatch some unfortunate wildlife, but neither eventuality has come to pass.
I think on reflection I’d take the animal to the vets, braining cats with a trenching tool at the side of the road is not a good look.
I think on reflection I’d take the animal to the vets, braining cats with a trenching tool at the side of the road is not a good look.
Good point.
Our local village Facebook group is already quite a disturbing place; lots of faintly hysterical voices spreading rumours about dog-napping (because her daughter's hairdresser's next door neighbour's cousin had definitely read soemthing once about it happening) and of course the ever present threat of paedophiles and rapists (all immigrants or travellers or both) hiding behind every tree. Oh and obviously the favourite complaint of any self-respecting resident, bin collections.
I imagine if one of them drove round a corner to find me in the middle of the road braining a cat, the entire place would go into meltdown and there'd be a vigilante hoard marching through the streets looking for the vehicle matching the description of the one used by the cat-murdering psychopath.
But ultimately, the risk of this happening comes with owning a cat. It is the cat’s owner who has taken this risk and so responsibility lies with them, and not the squasher.
No one's disputing that it's a risk you take as a cat owner. But that doesn't excuse potentially leaving an animal to die slowly in pain, after you've hit it. That's just selfish, ****tish behaviour whether you like cats or not. I don't like dogs, but I still wouldn't just drive off if I'd hit one.
The wife makes me keep a trenching tool in the back of the car
There was a car crash outside my old house. The driver of one of the cars died at the scene with a trnching tool embedded in his neck. Ensure its fastened down securely if its free to fly bad things can happen. Bit of a shock to be first on sccene and no amount of first aid would have made a jot of difference, no cats were harmed tho
But that doesn’t excuse potentially leaving an animal to die slowly in pain, after you’ve hit it.
That's true but it's no different than any other (wild) animal. As I said, I would spend some short amount of time (if safe) to try to find the owner or deal with the injured cat.
It seems that there are a few posting on this thread who seem to want the cat squasher, even if it is not their fault, to go to huge lengths to find the owner, get vets etc.
Anything I could do (probably likely to be with a rock or a shovel) would be for the cat's sake much more than it would be for the owner.
I'm simply not going to go round detectiving the owner or finding vets for hours and hours. Sorry, but no.
Maybe this is personal circumstances more than anything as being a bloke with a family of nearly teenage boys I am extremely busy. More often than not someone is relying on me being in a particular place at a particular time.
I just don't have the time to be any nicer and want swift conclusions!
Bit of a shock to be first on sccene and no amount of first aid would have made a jot of difference, no cats were harmed tho
I don’t envy you that for sure, sounds like scene from the Omen.
Before reaching for the shovel to despatch an injured cat you might like to read about this RSPCA prosecution back in 2006.
people are simply not conditioned or trained to kill animals swiftly and humanely and will almost always make things worse
Storyville last night about people on a raft - they caught a shark about 4 ft long. Bloke brings an axe over, I'll sort this - no matter how many times he whacked the poor shark on the head, it wouldn't die, he didn't even make it bleed! (So don't run over any sharks, is my call on this).
From the article XICO linked to above:
Colin Vogel, a vet called to give evidence in the trial as an independent expert witness, said the cat had been squashed to within an inch thick at its lower half. "He did the kindest thing, which was to put it out of its misery, whereas if he'd just walked away leaving it injured he could have just as easily faced a charge of animal cruelty."
I hope there's another side to the PC cat-killing story otherwise wtf was the RSPCA thinking?