# HELP My Cats Been Run Over What Are My Rights?????



## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

At the weekend some one ran over my beutiful cat Gypsy she was only 3 years old.
The guy reversed hit her then he drove off, she died instantly, some very kind ppl found her at the back of are fence and phoned us as she had a collar on.

Wat i want to know is do i have ne rights we dont no the guys where he lives or nethink but we no it was a silver volvo and theres only one in the block.
ppl also saw him do it.

is there nething i can do without getting in trouble wiv the law?

R.I.P My Little Gypsy missing you so much.xxx


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

If you believe the person intentionally hit the cat then you can report it to the police and the RSPCA, I think the police will take witness statements to pass on to the RSPCA.

But if it was an accident I don't think there is anything you can do, it is one of the risks of letting cats roam unfortunately.


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## cazcolecarter (Jan 11, 2010)

Firstly I am very sorry about your cat, it is natural that you are very angry, but i'm afraid the person who ran over Gypsy has done nothing legally wrong (unless it was intentional which would be near impossible to prove). Take some time to gather yourself and perhaps you can ask him why he didn't stop to check her or phone you, as this is what any decent person would have done x


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

As said if it was an accident there's nothing you can do. Legally you don't have to stop if you hit a cat but it would be the decent thing to do.
Good reason to keep cats indoors or in the garden.
Sorry for your loss.


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## Krista (Jul 18, 2009)

Hi,

I am sorry that I can not offer any advice, but just wanted to say that I am sorry to hear of your loss.

RIP Sweet one :flrt:

Jingle Bells.


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

sorry to hear that  R.I.P


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## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

thanx for all your kind words i guess i am just really angry we lived there for 18 years wiv no problem got 3 other cat and last year had to have are old cat put to sleep she was 19 and still went out and bout.

was thinking of putting a note on his car but mayb thats not the best idea.x


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## cazcolecarter (Jan 11, 2010)

was thinking of putting a note on his car but mayb thats not the best idea.x[/QUOTE]

As long as you're not planning to scratch the message on his bonnet using your keys that sounds fine, it's sometimes easier than talking to people face to face


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## boapugh (Jan 25, 2010)

he will just deny it im affraid. learn from this and make any future cats house cats. best for them, you and everybody else. im very sorry for your loss id be devistated.


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## thetong6969 (Apr 20, 2009)

sorry to hear about your cat
personally i have hit a few even one i slowed down for that then ran under my wheels(under no way am i trying to add to your pain by the way)
i don't like cats but as someone who keeps herps and others dont like i can appreciate what your going thru
the highway code used to state if run a cat over you can legally put it by the side of the road they are classed as vermin
dogs you have to report and tbh i would as the dog shouldnt be out on its own so would want any damage paid by the owner
as stated i have hit 3 cats a few years ago ,think they were attracted to the sports car i had
1 i stopped and even enquired at the vets it was taken to on the road opposite ,it didnt make it and i enquired about it .thing was a 2nd hand shop lady was crying i asked if it was her cat she said no i just used to watch it running accross the road all the time into the empty pub over the road after rats....................moral is keep em inside
still sorry for your loss


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## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

im affraid they wouldnt like to be kept inside now they are all over 5 and have had free roaming.
also dont think that just be we let are cats out they should get run over i just think ppl should drive more carefully, so just upset!


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

Sorry for your loss.
I have to say though, there many have been a chance that the guy didn't even realise your cat was there, as he was reversing he might not have seen them, so I'm sure it wasn't intentional.


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Well, My cats used to be able to go out. Then after some t**t trained 2 of his latch key dogs to kill cats (DIY Pit and a GSD) we stopped all ours going out. They didn't care after a couple of months. Then we spent £1600 for a cattery for them and they have never been out since.
No they don't miss it, In fact they couldn't care less as everything they could ever need and want is there for them.

I would far rather have my cats none roaming than Dead.
We also Foster for the CPL and they want more people to start taking better care of their cats and not allowing them to roam as 80% of roaming cats end up dead by shootings, Poisonings, cars, dogs, fireworks.

I know what I prefer. And that is live cats.
If you cat is hit by a car, then sorry to say but legally, nothing you can do as you put your cat in that danger by allowing it to roam.


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## sarahc (Jan 7, 2009)

*poor cat*

Very sorry for you.I've never had the misfortune to run one over but because I start work very early, driving in the morning, I find at least one nightime casualty a month.I always stop and check for life but I've only ever found one live one.Loads must get killed:sad:


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## Elina (Jul 22, 2009)

kizzy21_uk said:


> thanx for all your kind words i guess i am just really angry we lived there for 18 years wiv no problem got 3 other cat and last year had to have are old cat put to sleep she was 19 and still went out and bout.
> 
> was thinking of putting a note on his car but mayb thats not the best idea.x


The guy could be feeling really bad, just because he drove off does not mean he wanted to hit her.

A friend of mine loves cats more then anything but once when he was parking and one ran out from under another car. He hit the poor kitty who then died. Yes he did go and tell the little girl at the address that he had done it and helped burry the cat but I can understand that some people are worried about what the owner would say or do...

I am really sorry for your loss!
-
Elina


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## Exotic Mad (Jul 11, 2009)

rip kitty

my mum once ran over a cat. she rang the local rspca hoping she could take it to them and they told her to put it in the nearest bin. so she took it to the beach and buried it thinking she was doing something really good for her. she felt bad when i told her she really should have taken it to the local vets to see if it was chipped as the owners were probably wondering what happened to their cat


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

Exotic Mad said:


> rip kitty
> 
> my mum once ran over a cat. she rang the local rspca hoping she could take it to them and they told her to put it in the nearest bin. so she took it to the beach and buried it thinking she was doing something really good for her. she felt bad when i told her she really should have taken it to the local vets to see if it was chipped as the owners were probably wondering what happened to their cat


Thats a horrible thing to say "put it in a bin" thats someone pet  Arrghh  Craziness the RSPCA.

I am so sorry for your loss  RIP sweet kitty


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Pimperella said:


> we stopped all ours going out. They didn't care after a couple of months. .


Pimps is right - cats are incredibly adaptable and they do adapt to not being allowed to free roam.

I had 3 male cats who all free roamed - one in particular loved it and was out for hours, one would only go out when it was dark cos he was frightened of people and the third never wandered far away from me.

When the one who only went out when it was dark didn't come home when we called him in at bedtime and was missing for 10 days I decided I couldn't go through 10 days like that ever again and so we cat proofed our garden.

The one who loved to roam took a few months to finally give up trying to work out how to get out, but it was the best thing we could ever have done for the one who only went out when it was dark, because he felt so safe in the totally enclosed in garden that he spent hours out there in the sunshine enjoying it.

This was all 20 years ago and since then we've had about 10 more cats and none of them have even attempted to escape from the garden, nor do any of them try to get out of the front door when it's left open.


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## southpython (Feb 18, 2010)

i feel your pain, 2 years ago my lovely cat missy was run over :[

i cried for ages and people told me that he was speeding. it was like loseing a family member.

There hardly eny rights for running over cats tbh. not fair. 

It happens im afraid as there wild outside your house.


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

thetong6969 said:


> sorry to hear about your cat
> personally i have hit a few even one i slowed down for that then ran under my wheels(under no way am i trying to add to your pain by the way)
> i don't like cats but as someone who keeps herps and others dont like i can appreciate what your going thru


I've always wojndered why people hit animals in the road. In 30 years of driving the only thing I've ever hit is a rat which ran out from a ditch and shot across before I had time to react.



> the highway code used to state if run a cat over you can legally put it by the side of the road they are classed as vermin


What a load of tripe. Cats are not and have never been considered vermin. They are pets, but it is recognised that they are hard to contain and control like a dog. The law is that if you hit a dog or livestock etc, you must report it to the police. If you hit a cat, you do not have to report it to the police. Nothing about putting by the side of the road, nothing about vermin. Get your facts straight and stop perpetuating untruths.


> dogs you have to report and tbh i would as the dog shouldnt be out on its own so would want any damage paid by the owner


 what a nice person you sound <sarcasm> someone's beloved dog gets out by accident, perhaps dustmen leave gate open, or brats leave door open, or old lady falls, gets taken to hospital and ambulance men leave door open. Whatever reason, then alopng comes you, who admits that you can't drive properly, don't pay attention to the road and have hit lots of animals (animals/kid, if they are in the road and you hit them it's not your fault right?) so you smash into the dog and either it's screaming and writhing in the road in front of you and you tut in annoyance and examine your paintowrk for any scratches, then wait impatiently for it to die or go unconsioous so that you can look on the collar for a phone numbner to call the owner and tell them that their bloody dog has damaged your piece of scrap metal in waiting and you want paying for it. And by the way can they do something about their mutt because it's screaming is giving you a headache?


> as stated i have hit 3 cats a few years ago ,think they were attracted to the sports car i had


Shame you had a sports car when you weren't fit to be on the public highway.


> 1 i stopped and even enquired at the vets it was taken to on the road opposite ,it didnt make it and i enquired about it


 Bet that made your day eh?


> .thing was a 2nd hand shop lady was crying i asked if it was her cat she said no i just used to watch it running accross the road all the time into the empty pub over the road after rats....................moral is keep em inside or else someone like me will use them for target practice with our cars.





> still sorry for your loss


Don't be a hypocrite. You don't know the girl, you didn't know her cat, you don't like cats.

To the OP, I know how it feels. However there is really nothing you can do in law. If the chap reversed over it, he probably didn't even know it was there. I wonder why the cat didn't move when the car was started up? 
Sadly this is the risk they take. It's the price of living a natural life. You could keep the cats indoors all the time and never allow them to feel the sun on their backs, the wind in their fur or have the pleasure of stalking prey as cats like to do. But if you live in an area where idiots in 'sports cars' d rive like lunatics and are not able to either watch out for animals or small children dashing into the road, and their heap of junk sports cars are so unroadworthy that their brakes don't work, perhaps an indoor life might be better unless you want to end up a nutcase like me who finds out who killed my cat, then go and polish their car in the early hours, with brake fluid.They won't need to worry about scratches on their paintwork then, cos there won't be any paintwork to scratch. I am notoriously unhinged when it comes to exacting revenge.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

fenwoman said:


> I've always wojndered why people hit animals in the road. In 30 years of driving the only thing I've ever hit is a rat which ran out from a ditch and shot across before I had time to react.
> 
> 
> What a load of tripe. Cats are not and have never been considered vermin. They are pets, but it is recognised that they are hard to contain and control like a dog. The law is that if you hit a dog or livestock etc, you must report it to the police. If you hit a cat, you do not have to report it to the police. Nothing about putting by the side of the road, nothing about vermin. Get your facts straight and stop perpetuating untruths.
> ...


 

You always know how to word the things I struggle with
Well said:no1::notworthy:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

southpython said:


> There hardly eny rights for running over cats tbh. *not fair*.


But then if cats had any rights for being run over, then there would also be a law preventing them from free roaming, surely.

Sadly you can't have it both ways.


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## cazcolecarter (Jan 11, 2010)

feorag said:


> But then if cats had any rights for being run over, then there would also be a law preventing them from free roaming, surely.
> 
> Sadly you can't have it both ways.


You are very wise


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

cazcolecarter said:


> You are very wise


 YY U R YY U B I think U R YY4 me :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

fenwoman said:


> YY U R YY U B I think U R YY4 me :Na_Na_Na_Na:


Ohhh I remember doing that in school. I don't know where it fitted into the curriculum.

OP-
Sorry for your loss. I'm in the school of thought where I like to let our cats out. They're feral cats anyway so keeping them contained was never an option. Ours just play in the park.


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## thetong6969 (Apr 20, 2009)

fenwoman one reason our old german shehard had to be insured was because if she 1 did any harm to anyone(big laugh here she wouldnt attack anyone unless they were attacking her owner my oh)
2 caused any damage to motor vehicles etc 
just as herpetologists with large snakes or in fact any in public have to have them insured in case a member of the public gets hurt
you have a go at me for hitting 3 cats i kjnow of with a car even tho one i stopped the cat ran under the wheels and limped off then ran away
if your going on about nature man has and laways will damage it end of
and yes as i stated i am sorry for her loss , yes i did not know her but the loss of something you love is hard take it from me i've lost most my family and a lot of friends,but life goes on(and i havent reached 40 yet)
just wondering how much of this your going to cut and paste several times
and a dog hit by a car the car owner can claim for the damage regardless as how the dog got out
in america they get a huge fine its called responsible pet ownership whether an aciident or not
i wasnt having a go at the op and yet again i am sorry for her loss it's probably hurt her so much what i was doing was pointing out that the highway code states you do not have to report hitting a cat and i do not go driving about aiming at them


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## thetong6969 (Apr 20, 2009)

fenwoman one reason our old german shephard had to be insured was because if she 1 did any harm to anyone(big laugh here she wouldnt attack anyone unless they were attacking her owner my oh)
2 caused any damage to motor vehicles etc 
just as herpetologists with large snakes or in fact any in public have to have them insured in case a member of the public gets hurt
you have a go at me for hitting 3 cats i kjnow of with a car even tho one i stopped the cat ran under the wheels and limped off then ran away
if your going on about nature man has and laways will damage it end of
and yes as i stated i am sorry for her loss , yes i did not know her but the loss of something you love is hard take it from me i've lost most my family and a lot of friends,but life goes on(and i havent reached 40 yet)
just wondering how much of this your going to cut and paste several times
and a dog hit by a car the car owner can claim for the damage regardless as how the dog got out
in america they get a huge fine its called responsible pet ownership whether an aciident or not
i wasnt having a go at the op and yet again i am sorry for her loss it's probably hurt her so much what i was doing was pointing out that the highway code states you do not have to report hitting a cat and i do not go driving about aiming at them


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## pirez (May 3, 2009)

I would'nt call wandering the streets hunting rats a natural life!
If you let your cat wander the streets theres no surprise something bad would happen to it, its too risky!


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## lolly (Apr 2, 2008)

sorry for your loss


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## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

thank you to thos who had kind words to say, yes i understand that theres no laws or nethink u can do if this kinda things happen but when i first wrote the post i was so angry im bit calmer now.


Altho i did consideder keying his car.:blush:


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## panther_87k (Feb 4, 2009)

Elina said:


> The guy could be feeling really bad, just because he drove off does not mean he wanted to hit her.
> 
> A friend of mine loves cats more then anything but once when he was parking and one ran out from under another car. He hit the poor kitty who then died. Yes he did go and tell the little girl at the address that he had done it and helped burry the cat but I can understand that *some people are worried about what the owner would say or do...*
> 
> ...


this^^

theres an article in my local paper today where a guy assaulted a taxi driver after he hit his puppy, he continued thinking it was a cat (not right in my opinion but hey ho) the pups owner contacted the taxi drivers office and they called him and told him to return to the scene, he did so and was punched in the face a minimum of 2 times and had his car damaged, even though it was a complete accident, he had no chance to react or apologize, just open door and "whack"


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

panther_87k said:


> theres an article in my local paper today where a guy assaulted a taxi driver after he hit his puppy, *he continued thinking it was a cat (not right in my opinion but hey ho)* the pups owner contacted the taxi drivers office and they called him and told him to return to the scene, he did so and was punched in the face a minimum of 2 times and had his car damaged, even though it was a complete accident, he had no chance to react or apologize, just open door and "whack"


Anyone who would hit any animal and drive away without at least checking if they've hurt or killed it deserves a thump in my books for being callous!


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## bladeblaster (Sep 30, 2008)

feorag said:


> Anyone who would hit any animal and drive away without at least checking if they've hurt or killed it deserves a thump in my books for being callous!


Not the way to go about things though, this sort of things just puts people off stopping in the first place.

I was unfortunate to run over a dog on my motorbike, idiot owner walking a dog with no lead, I did stop and luckily the dog was not seriously hurt. He still blamed me, even though I was within the speed limit, and completely in the right :devil:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

bladeblaster said:


> Not the way to go about things though, this sort of things just puts people off stopping in the first place.
> 
> I was unfortunate to run over a dog on my motorbike, idiot owner walking a dog with no lead, I did stop and luckily the dog was not seriously hurt. He still blamed me, even though I was within the speed limit, and completely in the right :devil:


I did say "who didn't stop" I didn't say they deserved a punch for hitting the animal.


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## bladeblaster (Sep 30, 2008)

feorag said:


> I did say "who didn't stop" I didn't say they deserved a punch for hitting the animal.


True.......


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

Violence doesn't solve anything except make the owner of the animal look like a brute, whether the person drove away or not is indifferent the owner should be punching themselves for putting their pet in that situation not someone else. No wonder this country is going downhill when punching an hitting is considered acceptable in any situation, with the exception of self defence. If someone can't deal with their mistakes sensibly and logically without lashing out then they have a problem.


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## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

i just like to say i dont have ne problems i was angry like ne normal person would be, also i never once mentioned hurting him!


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## Krista (Jul 18, 2009)

feorag said:


> Anyone who would hit any animal and drive away without at least checking if they've hurt or killed it deserves a thump in my books for being callous!


Hi,


Couldn't agree more! :whip: :bash:

Jingle Bells.


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