Falkirk pet owners urged to back campaign to make it an offence not to report a collision with a cat

At the moment, under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a driver is required to stop and report an accident involving specified animals including horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals.

Now a campaign has started calling for cats to be included in the law, and introduce a fine of £1000 if motorists fail to report a collision with a cat.

Experts from LeaseCar.uk are supporting the campaign for the law to be changed to give cats the same rights as many other animals when it comes to road traffic accidents.

Many cat owners are left wondering what’s happened to their beloved pets if they’ve been run over by a driver, as it’s not a legal requirement to go to the police or track down the owner.

Recently one pet owner who lost her cat to a hit-and-run incident reached 100,000 signatures on a petition to change the law and this was subsequently debated in the UK parliament, but there are no current plans to make it an offence.

Tim Alcock, from LeaseCar.uk, said: “We’re calling for changes to be made to the law to make it a legal requirement for motorists to report to police if they’ve run over a cat.

“Along with this change, we believe it’s right to introduce a fine of up to £1000 for any motorists who don’t comply and simply leave a cat on the roadside without reporting the incident.

“It was shocking to discover that it’s not a legal requirement for motorists to report whether they’ve run over cats, but it was even more surprising that the law covers various animals but excludes one of the most popular pets in Britain.

“It’s not uncommon to see a poster for a missing cat on a lamp post or in a shop window and in many cases, the missing pet will have been the victim of a road accident but as the law stands there’s no requirement for the owner to even be informed.”