Conference misery::feline_v1

                                                     
    Re: the accident   
    
    That must have been a horrible experience for you. A few weeks ago
    I witnessed a cat being hit by a car, again the driver could do
    nothing about it. The cat ran straight across a narrow street so
    the driver didn't even have the room to swerve he just put his brakes
    on, there was a sickenning thud and a about ten yards further up
    the road the cat was tossed into the gutter like a rag but immediately
    jumped up and ran off. I think the cat was saved because the car
    was a souped up Astra and I think the front spoiler 'picked up'
    the cat and dropped it a bit further up the road. This time the
    driver stopped but the cat had gone by then so he drove off. I went
    to the house where the cat had run to and the person there said
    the cat belonged to a neighbor who was out at the moment so I told
    him what happened & he said he would let his neighbor know so that
    they could check the cat out. Unfortunately we could not have a
    look at the cat ourselves, I havn't been in that area recently so
    have not been able to see how the cat is.
                                                             
    
    Martyn.

    You only have to stop if you hit a dog, horse, cow, sheep ....
    
    Have I missed any?
    
    Lisa plus P&R
    

    I think the law says you *have* to stop if you hit a cat, in Mass.
    I read this in one of the cat books I have, but it made an example
    of the Mass law because many states do not have it.  Anyone else see
    this written somewhere?
    
    

    Re: .2 & .3
    
    I believe that in the U.K. hitting a cat was made a notifiable offence, i.e.
    you must stop & notify the police, in the last couple of years.
                                                           
                   

    Last night, the police officer said that, yes, in Massachusetts
    (Hudson, at least...like maybe it's a city/town ordinance) you
    MUST stop if you have hit a cat. I believe this is a fairly new
    ordinance/law, however.

    I am so glad to hear that there is such an ordinance.  I wonder if
    there is one out here in California.  If not , there should be.
    
    It bothers me that no one would bother to stop and try to find out who
    the cat belonged to or if was still alive.  I just adoped my kitty form
    an animal rescue foundation and they had a mascot cat that was found in
    a ditch.  I had a broken leg and an amputated leg; however, he was
    well adjusted and was as loving and mobil as any cat I've had.  So the
    moral of this story is ...if one hits an animal on the road, please
    stop and see if there is a chance to save him/her.  No one goes out to
    purposefully (sp?) hit an animal, but when it happens responsibility
    should be taken.  But then again people don't stop when they hit
    another person either...sick.
    
    ida

    Nobody stopped when they hit my little boy, he managed to crawl
    to the bottom of our stairs and well ... he died before we got to
    him.
    
    
    Still thinking about him
    Tracy

    re: purposely hitting an animal -
    
    Its sad to say, but there are stories in this note file of people
    deliberately hitting an animal.  I think that most of the time it
    IS an accident, but not always.
    
    I have also picked cats up off the street right after they were
    hit.  Its a VERY unsettling experience.
    
    I am very happy to hear that in Massachusetts you have to stop if
    you hit a cat.  Too bad you didn't get the license plate, but I'm
    sure you were in such a state of shock you just didn't think of it.
      Nancy DC

    Last night I was told that the owner of the cat had been found and
    informed of the unfortunate incident. I hope that if they get another
    animal, they'll be a little more thoughtful about when and where
    they let their animal roam. Not that the accident was entirely their
    fault, but they contributed to the circumstances surrounding the
    incident that occured. If you're in an area where the animals are
    able to roam free without the possibility of them getting killed,
    then by all means let them do so....Central Street in Hudson, Mass.
    is NOT such an area. Just my opinion, but I love animals too much
    to ever want to see any creature of God injured...even man.

    Re: .8
    
    Tracy, I'm really sorry about your loss.
    

    You know, the strange thing about Max getting hit by a car is the
    fact that he was terrified of them and usually ran straight out
    the back door.  So, we (my husband especially - is still distraught)
    find it really difficult to believe that Max went near the road of
    his own accord.  He was a beautifully big, fat, white fluffy boy
    extremely mischievious, but that's another few stories.....
                                     
    RE: .10 
    
    I know that alot of people love to keep their cats inside but our
    cats have always been outdoor during the day and indoor at night.
    So, please do not blame the owner of the cat because I know from
    experience the mental torture John (my husband) went and still does
    go through every time he thinks of Max.  He will always blame himself
    as he was the one who let him out.
    
    Tracy
    
    
    

    "He will always blame himself as he was the one who let him out."
    
    I know this feeling well.
      Nancy DC
    

    I feel so sorry for this baby.  I am a STRONG believer in keeping
    kitties indoors.  
    
    This note just goes to prove how true my personal name is.  It's taken
    from something that a CFF judge said at one time.  "Cats weren't made
    to compete with Buicks."
    
    Tracey, so sorry to hear about your loss.
    
    Holly
    

    Max may have been chasing something interesting that took him
    to the road.
    

    I'm glad this topic didn't come up a couple of weeks earlier.
    
    I was on my way to work early in June and I was coming to a lovely
    house in the country which I always admire. The road drops down a hill
    towards it and there, lying on the white line in the middle of the road
    was a grey tabbycat. It is a very dangerous road and I could not
    immediately stop but found a safe place to turn about a quarter of a
    mile on. I stopped in a very dangeraous place with a lorry, bus and
    several cars thundering up behind me. I wound down my window and
    frantically signalled that the cat was on the ground while making sure
    my hazard lights were flashing too. Thankfully all the vehicles made
    sure that the cat went between their wheels.
    
    In a lull in the traffic I jumped out scooped up the cat and placed her
    on the grass verge. She was still warm. I ran backto the car and backed
    it to a safe place and then went back to the cat. Her death had been
    instant I could see, as it was a head injury. I was shaking all over
    and my hands were covered with blood. I stroked her - her tail was still
    supple and it was then that I noticed the movement in her tummy area.
    She was in kitten and the babies were still alive and possibly
    stressed. I raced to the house, was told it was not their cat but they
    came along to see what they could do. By the time we got there all the
    movement had ceased, even though I tried the stroking again. It was 45
    minutes to the nearest vet and we could do nothing. 
    
    By this time I was in a state of shock and the people in the house took
    me back for a hot drink while one of them went down the valley a little
    to find the owner of the cat. 
    
    It is not just the death of the cat that worried me -  although the fact
    that she had babies made it a lot worse - it was the fact that life of
    any sort seems to mean less and less to people these days. They want to
    get where they want to get, go where they want to go - who cares about
    the death of an animal, giving it some dignity by moving it away from
    further dismemberment on the road, looking to see if it *is* dead at
    least. And it's not only cats but foxes and badgers and baby
    deer...........
    
    I go past the spot every working day and realise that a little piece of
    my soul lies on the grass verge where I left her. The people in the
    house buried her in the field behind the hedge.

    re-.16
    
    A very moving story, indeed. Thank you very much as I empathize
    with every emotion you mentioned in that story. May I just ask,
    where did this take place?
    
    Kevin 

    re.16 and .17
    
    This took place in the Thames Valley near Reading,England between two
    villages on narrow but horrendously fast road - a rural road which has
    become a commuters' racing track.
    
    Avril

    tracy...
    
    so sorry to hear about max...
    
    diane, stanley & stella