In 1980 I crashed into a deer in Sweden, middle of nowhere, middle of the night. It was a rather traumatic event both for me and my passengers and for the deer - which ended up as rather tasty venison sandwiches courtesy of the local police.
Today I ran over a rather attractive large fluffy domestic cat which eventually died of its injuries. It was a rather traumatic event for me, the cat obviously and a collection of its [adult] owners who were standing around nearby when it happened.
I was travelling at about 30mph up a steep narrow country lane when I saw the cat resting on the side of the road, well clear of harm's way. I didn't see it move but it must have made a dash across the road immediately in front of because I felt/heard it go under the front then back wheel. I didn't expect it to survive but stopped to check. I reached the cat at the same time as an owner and remembered to ask "do we need a vet?" rather than "is it dead yet?" When he said "yes" I asked if they already had a vet - no - while I tried calling my wife who is way better connected than me. Clearly upset owner wanted to know whether I had seen the cat [before hitting it]. Of course I had, I just hadn't expected the cat to commit suicide. I returned with my wife a few minutes later but by then the cat had died. Nobody asked about damage to my van.
Having experienced what it is to be "in charge" of a cat I know perfectly well that that's rather overstating the level of control available but if you do keep domestic pets perhaps you could do your best to keep them off the roads and, if the worst happens, remember that the offending driver is probably traumatised also.
Today I ran over a rather attractive large fluffy domestic cat which eventually died of its injuries. It was a rather traumatic event for me, the cat obviously and a collection of its [adult] owners who were standing around nearby when it happened.
I was travelling at about 30mph up a steep narrow country lane when I saw the cat resting on the side of the road, well clear of harm's way. I didn't see it move but it must have made a dash across the road immediately in front of because I felt/heard it go under the front then back wheel. I didn't expect it to survive but stopped to check. I reached the cat at the same time as an owner and remembered to ask "do we need a vet?" rather than "is it dead yet?" When he said "yes" I asked if they already had a vet - no - while I tried calling my wife who is way better connected than me. Clearly upset owner wanted to know whether I had seen the cat [before hitting it]. Of course I had, I just hadn't expected the cat to commit suicide. I returned with my wife a few minutes later but by then the cat had died. Nobody asked about damage to my van.
Having experienced what it is to be "in charge" of a cat I know perfectly well that that's rather overstating the level of control available but if you do keep domestic pets perhaps you could do your best to keep them off the roads and, if the worst happens, remember that the offending driver is probably traumatised also.
