However, there are now contacts us to alter hit-and-run laws to provide parity with other animals.
A campaign from the road safety charity IAM RoadSmart is looking for to see the law altered so that drivers would be needed to stop and report the event to the authorities if they hit a cat.
Under the Road Traffic Act (1988), drivers need to report crashes including animals such as dogs, horses, pigs and sheep, however not cats.
What to do if you struck a cat
Advice from the organisation Cats Matter is to stop, keep one’s cool and examine the circumstance.
It would be best to prevent any unexpected motions and go for sluggish, mild body movement when approaching the cat.
If the cat runs they have a particular page for what you must perform in that circumstance which can be discovered on their website here.
Otherwise, you might require to take a hurt cat to a close-by veterinarian, and it would be best to sound ahead to let them understand you are coming.
The finest method to raise a hurt cat is to have one hand under the chin at the front of the chest, and the other supporting the hind quarters.
Using a board below the cat and carefully moving them onto it will function as a stretcher and is a great way to prevent triggering additional damage or issues.
If the cat has actually unfortunately passed away, see if there is any contact info on their collar and let the owner understand what has actually taken place.
Additionally, if that details is not present then attempt knocking on doors in the instant location.
You can likewise take a departed cat to the veterinarian for microchip scanning and storage in cold centers up until the owner can be discovered.
What do advocates need to state about the existing law?
Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, said: “Drivers are required by law to stop and report incidents where they have hit a dog, and we have witnessed cars either drive slow and with extreme caution, or stop, when a dog has run loose into the road. However, the same level of care is rarely observed when a cat runs out – perhaps because the driver knows that, legally, they do not have to stop.”
Some advocates think a fine must be provided to drivers who leave a cat on the roadside without reporting on it (Image: Canva)
“But if a law requiring drivers to stop if they hit a cat were to be brought in, we believe it could strengthen driver vigilance and responsibility overall – meaning the benefits of the legislation will stretch far beyond the protection of cats.”
Alongside that Tim Alcock from LeaseCar.uk said: “We’re requiring modifications to be made to the law to make it a legal requirement for drivers to report to authorities if they’ve run over a cat.
“Along with this modification, our company believe it’s best to present a fine of as much as £1,000 for any drivers who don’t comply and merely leave a cat on the roadside without reporting the event.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose a cat, for numerous they’re a member of the family, which is why we wish to support the modification in the law to reveal their value.
“It merely isn’t best that cat owners are left in this dreadful vacuum of sorrow when their precious family pet vanishes without alerting.
“The reality that anybody would wish to leave a defenceless animal on the side of the roadway is terrible and not having a law in location can make individuals presume it’s great for this to continue.”
