What would you do if you ran over something in the car?

[ChesnutsRoasting]

I'm the same OP. Twice I've taken dead cats hit by cars & left by the roadside, to the vets for scanning. I once had to put a squirrel out of its misery after my dopey lurcher didn't finish the job & a wild rat that a neighbours dog made a mess of. Horrible.

 

[lah-de-da]

I stopped for a tawny owl which was sitting in the middle of a country road at dusk - many people drive too fast on that stretch and I don't like to think what would've happened if I hadn't picked him up. He looked very spaced out so I bundled him up in my coat and took him to my friends son (who works in wildlife rescue) - he took the owl to work and it turned out to be absolutely perfect by the time he got it there. They kept him overnight and did a test flight the next day which went really well, then I got a call asking if I wanted to release the owl that evening at dusk as near as possible to where I picked him up. Obviously I did! As a result I have some lovely pictures and a video of a gorgeous tawny owl being released into the wild

Unfortunately the only animal I have ever hit while driving was an owl, I didnt bother to stop as there was no way on earth it wouldn't have been killed outright. I do always look closely at animals on the side of the road though to make sure they're not alive

 

[amandaco2]

I do the same as you except running them over, I just couldnt do that even if it was the kindest thing. Id take it to the vet or rspca centre.

 

[noodle_]

some little cretin killed a cat a few years ago...he didnt even bother to stop.

I pulled over and bundled the [unfortunately] dead cat into the car and took it to the local vets - for a chip...sadly nothing -but i think its the best thing to do

i always stop - even that night i had my nicest gear on - coming home from a do - i dont care - they have the ability to feel pain as much as we do...

 

[BBP]

I had a cat stroll out in front of my car, in the A1 when I was going at 60mph. It looked me straight in the eyes as it wandered across. I was distraught and still am really upset when I think about it. I knew the cat must be dead but drove 5 miles to the next junction, came off and then 10 miles back to the previous junction so I could go back to where I hit it. I had to do that twice to find somewhere safe to stop. I stopped in a layby, walked down to where I hit him, found him and checked for a collar. I wish I'd picked him up and taken him to a vet but it was 11pm and I was hours from home, didn't know where a vet would be. So I moved him off the road and the next day called every vet and shelter in a 20 mile racius of that spot to report his description and to ask that they tell the owner how sorry I was. I still regret that I didn't find someone to scan him. Having lost two cats, one hot on road and we found out weeks later and the other just vanished I know how awful it is when you never find out what happened to them.

 

[w1bbler]

For those enquiring, large animals, deer etc that have been hit & need putting out if their misery, then 999 & police will sort a vet or police marksman.
There is no requirement to notify police of killing / injuring a deer unless its causing an obstrucion in the carriageway.
Reportable accidents are those involving horse cattle ass mule sheep pig goat or dog. According to the road traffic act. Any other animal is non noticeable.

 

[Doris68]

Our cat was killed outright on our lane several years ago - but the worst thing of all, it was our friend who hit him in her car on the way to work very early one morning. I was on my own (it was around 0600 hrs) and I remember hearing her shouting at the window..."I've just killed Archie.." I couldn't believe what I was hearing - she was distraught and I was so sorry for her that I couldn't be angry. She didn't go to work that day and we went to the pub and drowned our sorrows. She was so brave to come and tell me - I'm truly not sure if I'd have been as noble and honest. We're still good friends btw.

 

[Holzdweaver]

I dont drive and have no intention of doing, so i wouldnt be in the situation, but my ex was driving us home when we saw a stationary car quite a way in front open a car door, let a dog out then drive off! I turned to him and said, did that driver just kick that dog out? in total disbelief, and he just replied, yes and carried on driving! I may have used a few choice strong words to indicate that he was to stop the car immediately (he was just going to carry on) as the dog was running up the side of the road straight towards us and the t junction to the main road behind us, after giving up chasing the car that had just dumped him. I got out and called, hoping it would come but the poor thing was terrified, filthy, very very skinny with matted black fur and blue rope wrapped a few times around its neck. I can still see the terror on that dogs face even now. I tried to stop it from going any further up the road in desperation but it easily dodged and sprinted past, straight into the main road, got hit and caused a three car accident as the lady who hit the dog slammed on the brakes and the two cars behind couldnt stop in time.
I turned and begged my partner to go after the car who dumped the dog and just get the registration for the police as the road we were on didnt have any turnings for a good few miles and as the whole thing happened in just a few mins he would easily catch it up, but he wasnt interested and just sat in the car, which i never forgave him for, while i went to check the occupants of the vehicles involved in the crash (no injuries other than bruises thankfully) and wait for the police so i could give a statement.
I felt guilty for a long time about it even though i know i couldnt have done anything different, there just wasnt time to do anything, i just felt so sorry for the dog, i wish he would have just come to me.

 

[Spilletta]

As I sit here with my two lovely cats who are both in their "making sleep look so incredibly good" poses, I want to say thank you to OP for giving the owners of the poor cat some comfort. And thank you to others like OP.

Once I was following a car and a rabbit popped out - don't even know if the driver was aware it was so quick but they hit it. I could see it was not in a state to ever recover and somehow I just steered my car to drive over it again to ensure it was put out of its misery. I'm not sure what I'd have done if I'd had more time to think.

I guess/hope if I found something in dire straits I'd somehow find a way to deal with it Would definitely try and help with a cat or dog where an owner needs to be alerted.

I used to race triathlons and cycle time trails where a lot of time and effort had gone into getting best result possible, but I always had in the back of my mind I'd have to stop my bike if I ever came across animals in distress.

 

[meandmyself]

I've only ever hit birds thank god.

First one I hit was a pheasant and I couldn't stop- it happened on a very busy, very narrow 60mph road. No where to pull off safely. I'm 99% sure it was dead on impact though. (It shook the entire car!)

 

[marmalade76]

I've only ever hit badgers. If I were to hit another I'd reverse..

I often see rats running across the road in front of me, haven't managed to cop one of them

 

[Highlands]

Beatiful ginger cat outside school had been hit, 4 girls came to see me to see if I could do anything, sadly I had already checked. Cat was dead. Phoned council for them to collect. We have lost 3 on the road, heart breaking

 

[MagicMelon]

I dispise people who don't bother to stop for any animal. My other half always says I'll end up in a ditch avoiding hitting animals, but its true that I'll do my absolutely hardest to not hit something, I think everyone surely would? I once hit a cat, a glancing blow and it ran off. I rushed to the house it ran behind and knocked on the door to tell them. They didn't even seem particularily bothered! I had to demand they opened the shed the cat had gone into to check it was ok, thankfully it was but still I couldn't have lived with myself not knowing. I have come across a baby deer that had been hit, cannot believe nobody stopped - you know if you're hit a deer for goodness sake! I was late for my horse show because I sat in the car guarding it while the vet arrived to put it to sleep (sadly not saveable).

I lost 2 of our very much loved cats in 2 days a few years ago, I still remember arriving home to find my cat lying in the middle of the road, it still haunts me. Shortly followed the next day by the local farmer bringing my other cat down the drive saying they'd just found it on the road as well. WTF is wrong with people that they cannot stop and check these poor animals and if dead, at LEAST have the decency to move it off the road and tell the nearest house?!

OP, I'd have done the same. Well done for being decent unlike some people.

 

[MagicMelon]

I've only ever hit badgers. If I were to hit another I'd reverse..

I often see rats running across the road in front of me, haven't managed to cop one of them

Sorry, but that's horrible. Badgers and rats have as much right to live as anything else. Having had pet rats, they are full of character. I assume you probably don't even bother to get out of your car to move them after you've hit them either, so I'll have to explain what it is to my young son next time we pass...

 

[Caramac71]

I was driving home one day and a cat shot across the lane, right underneath my car. I felt a bit of a bump, which could have been the cat or just uneven road surface. I immediately stopped and looked for the cat in the garden it had run into, but couldn't see it from the road.

There were various small kids and dogs in the garden (dogs that didn't look too friendly to strangers!), and I managed to get one of the children to find an adult. Eventually a woman came out and I explained that a ginger cat had run underneath my car, and I wasn't sure if it had been hit/hurt but it had run into the garden and I wondered if it was hers. She said it was and not to worry, they had loads of cats, this one was about 6 months old and needed to learn some road sense - the cats were forever getting run over. She couldn't have cared less! I was really worried that the cat might be injured, so I offered to help search for it and take it to a vet to be checked over but she declined my help.

I drove away feeling really sad for the poor cat. Her attitude was appalling - it didn't matter if the cat was dead as they had plenty of spares! Some people just shouldn't have animals.

 

[Pigeon]

I would check, 100%, even if it were a squirrel or pigeon.

 

[applecart14]

For those enquiring, large animals, deer etc that have been hit & need putting out if their misery, then 999 & police will sort a vet or police marksman.
There is no requirement to notify police of killing / injuring a deer unless its causing an obstrucion in the carriageway.
Reportable accidents are those involving horse cattle ass mule sheep pig goat or dog. According to the road traffic act. Any other animal is non noticeable.

Thanks for providing that information, that is really helpful.

I had no idea you could ring the police for a deer. I knew dogs were notifiable but I didn't know sheep, pigs or goats were. I expect the police have all the numbers for the local wildlife rescue people too. Having watched Wildlife SOS which was in the depths of Surrey (I think) it was very interesting to see the work they did. 9 times out of 10 the deer didn't make it, even when rescued with all four limbs intact they are such timid little things their hearts give up on them through the stress of interacting with humans.

I have to say I am rather glad it wasn't me that hit the cat the other day, but I know how quickly they can run across and under a car, and you would have no chance of stopping.

The driver may not have stopped if she had children in the car which was something I didn't think of at the time.

 

[Juni141]

If it were a domestic pet I'd stop and check it and take it to vet/attempt to find its owners. Wildlife, it its small and obviously on its way out I'll kill it. If its big then I'd either call whoever I knew nearby to shoot it or if in an area I didn't know, call the police as they have designated people in each area on call to come and shoot injured wildlife.

 

[Juni141]

Sorry, but that's horrible. Badgers and rats have as much right to live as anything else. Having had pet rats, they are full of character. I assume you probably don't even bother to get out of your car to move them after you've hit them either, so I'll have to explain what it is to my young son next time we pass...

I'm sorry but I find this attitude ridiculous!! Badgers, rats and every other species of animal are going to die, in all sorts of gory ways whether your son knows about it or not. Surely much better to explain that is what happens and let him ask questions and accept that is the way of the world, particularly if you live in the country?

Its because of the above approach that today's children have no concept of where their food comes from, that animals live, have sex to reproduce and die and that life isn't always fair and can sometimes be very cruel. I think children from all walks of life should be taught about these things.

There was a brilliant article written about this after the big fuss made about Trinny Constantine's daughter being blooded out shooting, I can't find it though.

 

[Annagain]

We live on a main road and saw my neighbour's cat get run over as we walked home from the pub. I don't think the driver even knew - black cat on an unlit road. We heard a bang and thought the car had driven over a black bag causing it to burst, it was only a few seconds later we realised it was Harry. He was very badly injured and clearly not going to survive but was still thrashing about a bit so my OH had to put him out of his misery. I went to tell my neighbour, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, especially as we know them. I adore cats but would never have one living where we do.

 

[happyclappy]

I hit a cat once, and stopped, carefully picked it up and dove it to the nearest vet

 

[Shantara]

I'm sorry but I find this attitude ridiculous!! Badgers, rats and every other species of animal are going to die, in all sorts of gory ways whether your son knows about it or not. Surely much better to explain that is what happens and let him ask questions and accept that is the way of the world, particularly if you live in the country?

Its because of the above approach that today's children have no concept of where their food comes from, that animals live, have sex to reproduce and die and that life isn't always fair and can sometimes be very cruel. I think children from all walks of life should be taught about these things.

There was a brilliant article written about this after the big fuss made about Trinny Constantine's daughter being blooded out shooting, I can't find it though.

I don't think it's ridiculous at all! Having compassion is not the same as being ignorant. I am a meat eater (just polished off a lovely plate of chicken) and I'm under no illusion about what happened to it before it made it only my plate.

However, that doesn't stop me fishing bees out of the water and stopping people killing spiders (I have a phobia, but I don't want them killed!) or saving all manner of other little beasties.

I doubt I will have kids, but if I do they will be taught about love, live and death in a very frank manner, but I don't want them thinking "Just another rabbit on the road, what does that matter?" I want them to have compassion.

 

[tabithakat64]

I've rescued animals that were out in the road and took them to safety before now. I've only ever hit something once luckily and yes I went back to make sure it was dead (it was a duck, I hit it in the middle off the night on a dual carriage way, not quite sure what it was doing there ).