Drivers who run over cats should be made to report 'hit and runs' says Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
Cats are pets, not property, Battersea Cats and Dogs Home has said as it calls for new laws around "hit and runs".
At the moment, drivers are required to stop and report incidents of hitting a horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog under the the Road Traffic Act 1998. Cats are not included in this law.
This means that when cats are killed on the road, drivers are not legally obliged to notify the local authority, so owners may go for weeks without knowing what happened to their beloved pet.
Battersea is calling for cats to be treated equally to dogs and other pets, and for those who hit a feline on the road to be required to report it.
They say: "At the moment, if someone hits a cat with their car they are under no obligation to stop and report the accident. We think this law needs to change.
"This change would bring peace of mind for cat owners and see the law treat cats as similarly important as other animals."
According to figures from Highways England, it is estimated as many as 8,000 cats are killed in road collisions and left unreported each year in England alone.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) already has plans to enforce compulsory microchipping for cats, to reduce cat theft.
Campaigners argue that it therefore makes sense to force those who run over cats to report the accident, so the microchip scanned and the parent notified.
Sir Roger Gale, MP for North Thanet and member of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, said: "I am wholly supportive of the Battersea campaign. Not knowing and spending hours searching for a missing and much-loved pet causes huge distress.
"In tandem, of course, animals have to be microchipped so the owner can be identified and notified about the death".
Animal welfare advocates have called for the law to treat cats equally to dogs.
Henry Smith, the MP for Crawley, explained: "I agree with Battersea that it should be a requirement to report.
"Losing a pet is of course upsetting but not knowing the fate of a much-loved animal, like a cat, only compounds that.
"As is the case with dogs, I do think a driver who unfortunately runs over a cat should be obliged to report that."
Battersea’s deputy chief executive, Peter Laurie, said: “Losing a pet in any circumstances is tragic but never knowing why and what happened makes it even more difficult. Under the Road Traffic Act (1988) drivers are required to stop and report incidents involving a dog and other animals like a horse, sheep or pig, but not when it comes to cats. This is a curious gap in the law, but one which can be easily addressed.
“Introducing a requirement for drivers to stop and report if they hit a cat, coupled with a compulsory requirement to scan any deceased cats found in the area for microchips, could bring much-needed closure to owners who otherwise may never know what happened to their beloved pet.”
It is understood Defra may be considering this as part of its consultation into microchipping.
