On the night of 29th of April, 2017 our Red Point Siamese Henry was killed by a car in front of our house. Even though he was wearing a collar with all our details on his tag, he was left to die alone – the driver did not stop. A few years earlier, a fluffy white boy named Snowy didn’t come home. After months of searching, his family pieced together through neighbours and other witnesses that he had been run over, then picked up by the council binmen and taken to landfill – he was microchipped.
Normally, these two incidents would not end up in the mainstream news. These stories would not be talked about beyond the sphere of close friends and family, and when discussed, would even be met with comments such as, ‘Well, that’s just what happens.’ Or, ‘It’s just a cat.’
But not this time. This time, I wrote this viral blog to the driver who killed Henry. It was off the back of this blog that Mandy Lowe (Snowy’s owner), who had been campaigning for years for compulsory microchip scanning from all councils, contacted me and a few months later, the official CatsMatter movement was born.
Our campaign’s ultimate goal is to challenge UK law surrounding cat’s welfare on UK roads, because all cats matter. We continuously liaise with MPs and Government Departments and work tirelessly towards making it illegal for drivers to leave the scene without reporting if they hit a cat. We also call for it to be mandatory for all councils to scan every cat found and notify the owners, as well as spreading this message far and wide, in the hope of changing driver mind-sets that it is ‘just a cat’.
Scoff if you must, but the grief we feel after the loss of a cat is every bit as painful as that felt after losing a human, so why are drivers and councils leaving and binning our cats as if they are nothing? You wouldn’t see that with a dog, or certainly not a human. But cats, well… I guess society says it’s ok. But we are here to say it isn’t.
In general, there needs to be more awareness and consideration towards cats on roads. If not because they are much-loved, integral parts of people’s families, then for the simple fact that if drivers were more vigilant in looking out for cats, they would be far less likely to put many other vulnerable road users, like children, the elderly, the disabled and cyclists, at risk.
According to figures released from Petplan in 2005/6, drivers in the UK hit 630 cats every day – and those are just the ones we know about. Petplan’s research also found 35% of drivers admitted to either hitting or nearly missing a cat, and three out of four drivers confessed to having no idea what to do if they were to hit a cat. 13% admitted that they would leave the cat for dead – though the campaigners at CatsMatter believe this particular statistic to be higher in reality, based on our own canvassing and campaign experience.
It’s precisely this gap in driver knowledge on both how to avoid hitting a cat while driving but also, what to do if you do hit one that we work so hard to address.
Hitting a cat with your car isn’t just a traumatic event for a driver. It unquestionably is for the cat and it certainly will be for the person (or people) who love him or her – but how a driver handles that situation will determine the degree of trauma experienced by all parties involved. Does a driver want to spend the rest of their life wondering if they could have saved the cat they hit, or done something differently? Do they want the idea of the poor animal’s family searching the streets, seeing the cat’s missing posters on social media and through the towns – knowing that they are responsible for this prolonged agony and have done nothing to ease the owner’s suffering? If they have a heart, the chances are probably not.
We believe that most drivers are inherently good people, and more often than not, it is a combination of panic at having to come face-to-face with the scene (as well as confronting the owner afterwards), coupled with a general lack of knowledge about what the correct protocol or moral thing to do would be after hitting a cat, that leads so many to make the most destructive decision: to drive off and do nothing.
Drivers also need to be held lawfully accountable. If only because where empathy fails, a hefty fine or other legal consequence may serve as an adequate reminder that, though they may not think much of killing a cat, society certainly does and has deemed it wrong to do so and not report it.
The way that both drivers react, and many of our local councils treat our beloved cats after road traffic accidents is an epidemic and it needs to change.
CatsMatter works to do just that. As a 100% non-profit, grassroots organisation, we exist solely on the support of likeminded people who volunteer, donate and buy campaign materials from our online shop. If you would like to get involved, please visit the website or email us here.
Colette and Simone are not allowed outside. I’ve seen too many ‘accidents and despite our quiet little village, some people insist on flying though.
I think this is very noble, and because I DO care about cats’ lives, my 8 babies are indoor only. It’s not so hard to keep them inside with toys and towers to amuse them. Why tempt fate by opening the door to the dangers of the outdoors?
Our drivers are notoriously bad, and our free range cats in this country are numerous. Ours wander at will. Yet cat fatalities on the roads are not significant enough for us to have noticed. Can it be that in the UK they aren’t allowed to become ‘streetwise’ enough?
I do agree that drivers should be required to stop and respond in the same way as for any other collision and to face penalties if bad driving was the cause. Here, the same goes for monkeys or mongooses.
Great article! I agree totally! I just want to remind you, in mating season, there will be an upswing in the number of kittens running around. They have no idea how to avoid high traffic areas and simply run when they’re frightened….usually right out in traffic. And because they’re so small and quick…they’re really hard to catch or see.
I suggest watching the gutters and side walks and slowing down in “feral” neighborhoods. Especially at night and dawn when they’re on the prowl.
Andrea Gaines?
This is a super important post!
I don’t get to go outside but the human has seen many poor kitties in the road.
She always stops to see what she can do and move them.
Cats DO matter!
Have a wonderful weekend…
Noodle and crew
Interesting article. Something I would never have thought about thanks
I couldn’t agree more!
cats do matter!
That is awful! And sad. My mum once hit a dog that was running all over the road chasing another dog. Plenty of onlookers. We stopped and scooped up the still dog and delivered it to the vet. It was with the hope they would know who it belonged to and let them know. Cheers,H
How could you leave it ?It outdoors kill me if that happened to me, people should be held accountable for hitting a cat. As in take it to a vet at least. I thank you for raising awareness of this terribleness, I’m so glad my crazy lot are house cats!
Cats and Dogs DO matter. I can’t speak for the UK but in the U.S. it happens with both cats and dogs. Very tragic. I also think fewer people than we know think about, or even know about, microchips. It often is not something anyone considers, believe it or not. Two years ago a friend of mine and I were driving home. We came upon a cat who was clearly sick on the side of the road. I am pleased to say we were not the only car to stop to help it, but we were the car that got there first. Sadly, the cat was too sick to be saved, but at least his final hours he knew warmth and kindness. Years ago, when we were quite young, my friend’s dog was run over (right before her eyes) by a policeman. The policeman did not stop. That truly amazes me. (Not a commentary on policeman because I KNOW 99.9% of them would stop.).
Of course cats matter! It should be made law to report an accident involving a cat.