Deceased cats - please take action!

[Birker2020]

Not a pleasant subject especially for those that have lost pet cats on the roadside, but important to hear.

I found a deceased cat at the side of the road about 6 weeks ago, text my friend as I hadn't a clue what to do with it other than move it to the verge which I did. It had very little damage to its tiny body. I thought it may have belonged to the farm which was on the opposite side of the road so I left a note on their gate - it turned out it was a feral cat and the lady whose farm it was, was very grateful I'd told her as she rang me later in the day to thank me.

Before the lady had rang me my friend had replied to my text with a group on Facebook called DECEASED CATS UK AND IRL and you can join their group and post on their page about any cat you find dead. Their webpage is full of photos of cats that have been found.

Apparently any cats found dead at the roadside are routinely picked up by the Council and taken to landfill and disposed of. They are not checked for microchips as standard and the Council lorries do not have microchip scanners on them. This means that for the most part a cats owner will never receive closure on the fate of their cat. Also a lot of people would just bury the cat if they found one, especially if it had no collar on it. NEVER bury a cat until it has gone to a vet for microchip scan.

Please if you find a dead cat turn the car around and go back - remember to park safely. See if it has a collar and get a contact detail of the owner if you can. If not you can move the cat to the verge or pavement and if you can't bear to do anything else contact DECEASED CATS UK AND IRL. Or put it in a bin bag but when you photograph it it must be on a towel (not a bin bag as the group is very strict on this - this is someone's much loved pet and not rubbish) and take to the nearest vet where they will take control of the body, scan the cat and keep it in refrigeration for a set time. You can then upload the photo of the cat to the DECEASED CATS UK AND IRL facebook page. Try not to include anything to gruesome (remember this is someone's much loved pet) but any colours/patterns on the coat are most helpful for identification.

Please take action immediately when you see a cat, sorry to say it only takes approx. 12 runs over an animal to obliterate it from the face of the earth -you would never know it had even been there.

Please help give owners closure on what has happened to their cats. Better to know their cat is dead then to be forever wondering what had happened to it.

I have mentioned the post code areas on the website of the areas I can cover as they were looking for volunteers to retrieve cats and take to vets. I now have a shovel a couple of bin bags and a towel in the car in case I am ever called to help out.

Thank you.

 

[Fransurrey]

Thank you for moving the cat. I had to retrieve one a while ago that was obliterated as you say. I needed two bags to scoop up the remains and warned the vet that it wasn't in one piece. Miraculously they did find the chip and the owner had their pet cremated. I doubt they'd have ever known if I hadn't pulled over into roadworks - the front end was barely even recognisable as a cat.

Another option is to contact the local Cats Protection branch. Many of the volunteers have access to a scanner and will retrieve/scan the body if the finder can't bring themselves to transport it.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I picked one up a few months ago. It wasn’t pleasant. I took to our local Vets for Pets and it was scanned and did have a microchip so the owner was able to be contacted. Usually people post on the local FB pages if they find one.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

deleted

 

[Green Bean]

I have lost 3 cats to the road through our village. The first, a person threw his body in the ditch and only due to my OHs determination did we find him and have closure through burial. Second one, as I stay in a small village, I printed fliers and asked my children to do a mail drop and put up posters. He had distinct markings and it turned out someone in the village had found him and buried him next to their cat who had died on the same road. Poor OH again went to dig him up and we buried him in our garden. Third time, a lady we know in the village found our cat and told us about him and OH again went to fetch him. All three cats were microchipped, no one checked. This is in a small village so what hope an owner has in a town I don't know.

 

[Maddie Moo]

I lost one when I was a teenager to a road incident, in some way it was sort of lucky for us he actually made his way into someone’s garden before he died and they went knocking on houses with his collar (they had cats so knew someone would be looking for him) otherwise we would have never got him back to bury in our garden. He was microchipped but they never took him to a vet as they figured he must have been local.

I always pick up cats as I know how it feels to lose one like that and if we hadn’t found out what had happened to him, the lack of closure would have been devastating.

Wasn’t there a petition going around recently about making it mandatory for councils to scan for microchips for animals they pick up?

 

[Abby-Lou]

I picked a dead one up in the road the other day, and placed it on a path, very little damage really just stone cold gone. Just not nice for the owner to find, but no collar.

 

[Noble]

I lost one of my cats on the road, a beautiful Bengal. Luckily for me a cat lover stopped when she saw his body at the side of the road and contacted me to let me know, I was able to collect him and bury him giving me closure, I didn't have the worry of my stunning boy not returning home but the not knowing why.
Another of my cats went missing, he was very loyal and would never have wandered. 3 years later I received a call from the RSPCA he had been brought in, he had found his way back to the estate I live on but the wrong end. He had been getting fed by the locals for the 6 months he had been there but no one thought to check for a microchip until they they were concerned he was about to pass away. He came home and lived with me for another year but it saddens me that he lived on the streets for an unnecessary 6 months at the age of 18 when a quick trip to the vets to check for a chip could have got him home to me.
So please if you could take suspect strays in to check too, in the past I have attached a collar with a note on asking to contact me if you own the cat and if there is no response over a few days I have popped them to the vet and reunited them with their grateful owner.

 

[MagicMelon]

It is really sad, especially when I imagine dogs would be treated totally differently if one were hit. Cats are just as important. Ive lost cats to the road, including coming home one evening to find my cat in the middle of the road having just been killed - they hadnt even bothered to stop. Its very very sad losing one, but also terrible just not knowing. Personally, I dont think I could go on a facebook page to see my dead cat though sadly. But I totally agree they should be checked for microchips and I wish it was law that people have to stop if they hit a cat to check on its condition and if it has indeed died, to at least have the decency to put it on the verge.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I dont think I could go on a facebook page to see my dead cat though sadly..

People don’t usually post a picture of the dead cat just a description ie colour and where found and where taken to. Sadly many are not microchipped.

 

[OldNag]

Sadly, I've found a few deceased cats round here. I've always taken them to the local vet, who is 24 hours and will scan for a chip. Thankfully they've always managed to trace the owner - which is awful but at least they do have closure and don't have the "what if".

 

[fiwen30]

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It’s the not knowing, and the maybe never knowing, which is the worst.

I also keep heavy bin liners, towels, and gloves in my car - have had to use them for wildlife, I hope to never have to use them for someone’s precious pet.

 

[Birker2020]

I have lost 3 cats to the road through our village. The first, a person threw his body in the ditch and only due to my OHs determination did we find him and have closure through burial. Second one, as I stay in a small village, I printed fliers and asked my children to do a mail drop and put up posters. He had distinct markings and it turned out someone in the village had found him and buried him next to their cat who had died on the same road. Poor OH again went to dig him up and we buried him in our garden. Third time, a lady we know in the village found our cat and told us about him and OH again went to fetch him. All three cats were microchipped, no one checked. This is in a small village so what hope an owner has in a town I don't know.

Is terrible isn't it, people think they are doing right by burying them, and to be honest, if this incident with the dead cat hadn't happened to me I probably wouldn't be any the wiser, which is why I'm trying to put the message across on here.

Well done to your poor OH, bless him.

 

[Birker2020]

People don’t usually post a picture of the dead cat just a description ie colour and where found and where taken to. Sadly many are not microchipped.

If you go on the FB page there are quite a few that are photographed, I'd say probably 60%. The FB site tries to get photos for identification purposes, especially if the cat has very long or dense fur or has unique markings, sometimes they photograph just the collar of the cat if it has one on.

 

[poiuytrewq]

When my little cat Arlo went missing I was told the council would scan and keep record of any cat picked up. I phoned every few days- is that not true? Luckily he was found (via his chip and my constant hounding on Facebook!)
It was my worst fear he’d just be killed and I’d never know.

 

[Birker2020]

I

Wasn’t there a petition going around recently about making it mandatory for councils to scan for microchips for animals they pick up?

https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/229004 it was debated but still not mandatory apparently

Apparently its the same with dogs. From the petition:

We already scan dead pets found on the motorway and on the strategic road network—a positive move following the work of Harvey’s Army, which secured Harvey’s Law. Harvey was a miniature poodle who went missing in November 2013; he was microchipped and wore a collar and tag. Just 21 minutes after he went missing, his body was recovered; it was stored and then cremated, yet no contact was made with his owners, who, with friends, searched for 13 weeks before discovering what happened to him. Harvey’s Army is a registered charity and has grown to include more than 300 volunteers across England, Scotland and Wales, who are active in trying to identify and connect families with their lost pets.

 

[Birker2020]

When my little cat Arlo went missing I was told the council would scan and keep record of any cat picked up. I phoned every few days- is that not true? Luckily he was found (via his chip and my constant hounding on Facebook!)
It was my worst fear he’d just be killed and I’d never know.

Some councils do Poiutrewq but not all, its not mandatory yet.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

One of my cats went missing earlier this year, I posted all over fb and contacted local vets/charities etc. He's never been found and I suspect I will never know what happened to him He was microchipped and wore a collar.

 

[Annagain]

I live on a main road and the people three doors down insist on having cats even though I've watched one get run over and found another lying in the road. I've had to go and tell them they've lost their cats twice and know they've lost at least another two in the 10 years we've been here and they still get more. It really upsets me. I'd love a cat - I grew up with at least two cats at a time - but won't have one where I live now because of the road.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Thanks for this OP.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

If you go on the FB page there are quite a few that are photographed, I'd say probably 60%. The FB site tries to get photos for identification purposes, especially if the cat has very long or dense fur or has unique markings, sometimes they photograph just the collar of the cat if it has one on.

I was referring to local village pages which usually don’t allow it.

 

[Birker2020]

One of my cats went missing earlier this year, I posted all over fb and contacted local vets/charities etc. He's never been found and I suspect I will never know what happened to him He was microchipped and wore a collar.

This is the problem. Well meaning people bury them or they get picked up by the Council.

I am dreading collecting my first cat but the thought of someone like jourself forever wondering what has happened makes it very real. I'm truly sorry about your cat.

 

[Birker2020]

It is really sad, especially when I imagine dogs would be treated totally differently if one were hit. Cats are just as important. Ive lost cats to the road, including coming home one evening to find my cat in the middle of the road having just been killed - they hadnt even bothered to stop. Its very very sad losing one, but also terrible just not knowing. Personally, I dont think I could go on a facebook page to see my dead cat though sadly. But I totally agree they should be checked for microchips and I wish it was law that people have to stop if they hit a cat to check on its condition and if it has indeed died, to at least have the decency to put it on the verge.

I would stop and have turned the car around after hitting a rabbit. Often if i see something in the road i will go back and check and if its struggling but obviously mortally wounded i will kill it by running over it, i can't bear the thought of something suffering.

Fortunately, if that's the right word, most cats are killed outright. So sad.

 

[SOS]

Hopefully with the new cat microchipping law it may be a good time to push this through as well. Mandatory microchip scanning of deceased pets found by the public.

We had many, many RTA deceased cats brought into practice and often had no microchip. Sometimes the owners were found through social media. When they did have a chip and I had to make a very difficult call there was a mixture of shock, sadness and relief that they were able to be contacted.

One last year broke my heart as the cat was brought in recently deceased, I rang the owner on the chip who swore blind he was asleep on the sofa as he had been just half an hour before. She said she had given him a kiss, cuddle and come upstairs and I must have the wrong number. But it turns out he had gone out and almost instantly been hit and killed.