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Woman Wants To Change Law On Cat Hit And Runs

Woman Wants To Change Law On Cat Hit And Runs

It's currently the law to ring police if you hit a dog, but not a cat.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A woman has started a petition to try and change the law so if drivers hit a cat they are legally required to inform the police.

In the UK, if a dog, pig, goat, donkey, horse or cow is involved in a road traffic accident, the driver has to notify the police under the 1988 Road Traffic Act.

However, despite the UK owning an estimated 8 million pet cats, the law doesn't yet apply to felines.

Gemma Conway would like to see this law changed, and has set up an e-petition to try and make it happen.

Credit: Facebook/Gemma Conway

And, the petition is flying, racking up over 191,000 signatures in just a few weeks.

Gemma told the Dorset Echo: "I didn't expect this many signatures in this little amount of time.

"But this petition shows that people do care and it is something that should be looked at more closely."

Gemma was prompted into action after her cat Bertie went missing in April. She told the Dorset Echo that while she was using Facebook to try and trace the cat, she came across lots of posts about cats being hit by cars and left on the roadside.

She also found that there was lots of missing pets in her area, with worried owners, similar to her and her family.

Credit: Facebook/Gemma Conway

Gemma told the paper: "I then discovered that if a motorist hits a cat, they do not have to legally report it - unlike with dogs and other animals.

"The driver can carry on driving as if nothing has happened - when did that become okay?"

Gemma would also like to encourage cat owners to ensure their pets are microchipped.

Cat Matters, a campaign group which aims to raises awareness of cats to motorists, told the BBC that getting cats included on the Road Traffic Act 1988 wouldn't be a good idea, because it would restrict a cat's 'right to roam'.

Instead the organisation would like the government to make a new law.

Credit: PA

Whatever the solution, it's certainly an issue that's struck a chord with people in the UK, if the snowballing number of signatures on Gemma's petition are anything to go by.

Sadly, despite looking for five months, Gemma and her family are still not sure what happened to Bertie. She told the MailOnline: "My son still says goodnight to him every night and looks for him out of the window. I tell him he's off on an adventure with the top cats and that he's okay.

"We would be absolutely devastated if he had been run over and someone had just driven off. This is about having that closure and being able to draw a line under what happened."

If you want to sign the petition, you can do so here.

Sources: BBC; Dorset Echo; MailOnline

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Gemma Conway

Topics: Pets, Driving, Cats