So I am to blame then????? You didnt answer my question ... do you have any cats????

I think you should read the other quotes. You cannot blame the driver in all cases.

All my cats except 1 are house cats. My first cat goes outside, which is my fault as i got her when i was very inexperienced with cats and she LOVES going out, i dont really want to restrict her now. However all my others will never be allowed out. It is extremely unfair to blame drivers in ALL cases.

Not all accidents especially with animals running in front of cars are avoidable. I mean my brother got hit by a car and it wasnt the drivers fault!!

You dont want your cat to get run over dont let them out i say - and yes i am a hippocrite as my eldest goes out!! But i wont make that mistake again!

__________________

I thought so.

Of course not, its the people that drive off afterwards that should be punished.

Yes you are a hypocrite, have you ever had a cat that got killed on the road?

I would assume that you would have slightly different views if this had happened to you and the driver ran off not bothering to stop!

I rather feel that some of these comments have been made in haste and without thinking.

Firstly, I have never driven off without stopping to attend the wildlife, be it my fault of the driver in front. Had I hit a cat, of course I would try and inform the owner, if there was a form of id. However, where cats are micro chipped, with no collar, its highly unlikely that a member of the public would have a machine to read the details. Since collars are largely being fazed out to due medical reasons, its very difficult to trace the owner.

One of my clients could not find her little cat before Christmas, and after numerous appeals, and posters, she discovered that her cat had been run over and the driver had buried him in the field at the back of her garden. He was micro chipped but had no other form of identity.

Yes, this is an emotive subject, but you have to look at it from all points of view. As I stated previously, the best driver in the world, cannot prevent an accident if a cat/squirrel/deer etc, runs straight out in front of their car. Which brings me nicely back to my original question. House cat or indoor cat?

__________________

Sorry that we went off topic, but surely if you found a cat on the side of the road the logical thing to do is take it to the local vet in the area where most have microchip ID machines and its where most people would think of contacting in their area if their cat was lost.

You are being extremely judgmental and making assumptions about people whom you do not know. I understand this is an emotional topic, however not owning a cat or not having one that has been run over (which actually i have) is no reason to dismiss someone elses opinion. Though like i said i do not dismiss your opinion as it is horrible to lose a pet.

__________________

We are coming back to responsible people again and sadly, not everyone is like us!

I cannot imagine your feelings having a cat run over. Three of my clients have suffered in this and all the cats were pretty young. It really is a terrible dilemma and a decision which I still have to make.

My little cats have been sitting looking out onto our garden this morning, which neither have done before. I always planned on keeping them both in for at least 6 weeks anyway, so I may take the cowards way out, and wait until then.

__________________

one of my cats was hit by a car i did not blame the driver as i know how cats bolt accross the road i did however blame him/her for leaving him in the middle of the road for other cars to run over him, it is against the UK law for a dog to be left after being hit by a car yet if its a cat your able to drive away without a care in the world i am at present pushing for the law to be changed, i would never hit any animal and leave it its just a discrace how the world is when most people will drive away.

On another note all of my Bengals are kept in the home and they have no worries about it they lead a fit and healthy life with lots of play and more scratching posts than you could imagin so they can play jump explore, i have opned the back door a few times to see if they had any interested to check out the back yard however they always decline, i think they like the sofa much more than out there x

__________________
www.diamonddustbengals.com

another that should be changed is the Microchipping did you know that only 50% of the councils have the microchipping reader available to scan lost/dead cats thus meaning 50% of cats lost or hit by a cars never get returned or have their owners informed of what had happned, i am lucky hampshire council have the facility and i was informed at 7.45 am on the 14th september 2007 about jake the poor guy did not know what to say or what to do i was so histericle he checked his microchip 20 times over and his collar and everything else before i would beleive it was him although i am very grateful he was returned to me it enabled me to have him cremated and he is now awaiting to go and be turned into life gem he was my first ever cat i got him from the local rescue and he ment the world to me so i thought a life gem would be a way of keeping him close to me forever and always

but i understand all points from everyone but like you said cats will run if they are scared and 99% of the time in the wrong direction

__________________
www.diamonddustbengals.com