The cost of my (uninsured) moggie playing in the traffic recently was £900 plus her tail.

I've watched her make a dash for the other side of the road - no amount of telling her changed her inexplicable desire to reach the unknown 'over there'.

Anyone see that cartoon of the 'Cat's obedience awards ceremony' ?   Cartoon shows a whole bunch of empty seats.

When I had driving lessons, many years ago, the message was quite clear - never swerve to avoid small animals because hitting something small and squishy is far better than hitting a human or another vehicle.

I think ,perhaps understandably , you're being pretty emotional. Your cat could have been run over for any number of reasons. Did you see a speeding motorists hit your cat intentionally or otherwise.

Cats are small, move fast as do rats, mice, squirrels, pheasant and whatever. Sorry your pet was klled, but I won't put myself or others in potential danger for some small animal.

I hit a cat once. I was tootling along at 30 when suddenly a cat darted out in front of me, being chased by another. There was nothing whatsoever i could do. I was totally mortified, it was awful. Surely nobody would deliberately run something over?

Canadian woman gets prison time for causing two deaths when she stopped her car to rescue ducks

http://www.nydailynews.com/new...sh-article-1.2051060

Avoiding a collision with an animal doesn't necessarily mean you'll be putting anybody in danger.

When an animal runs in front of me, I instinctively move my right foot towards the brake pedal and my eyes to the rear view mirror. If it's safe to brake, I brake.

Although I do realise the less competent drivers, won't have this natural reaction and feel ploughing into the animal is the best option.

Jan,

Wouldn't you say she went a bit further than avoiding the ducklings.

Obviously. Stopping in the fast lane to help ducks is an extreme example, but it illustrates one end of the range of instinctive reactions in humans. Animals' reactions are difficult to predict, and avoidance manoeuvres (other than braking if safe to do so) on the driver's part are likely to put more animals (humans) at risk than the option of ploughing straight on. Is that less competent driving, or defensive driving ?

Me neither.

I aspire to be as good a driver as you think you are. However you would kill the moggy if you really had no choice...

Neither have I.

I would precociously step on the brakes for any animals on the road except when driving a motorcycle. 3 cats in 6 months is unusual! Condolences

Hi Dave

I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your cats. A few years ago we lost our beautiful British Blue  cat outside the front of our house one night. It was a well lit 50km per hour area just before a roundabout and I do wonder how careless people can be. However people can also be very kind, when we could not find her, we put up notices in the neighbourhood and eventually she was returned anonymously in a cardboard box covered in flowers. So kind.

On the other hand I have driven over a fair few possums. These creatures are an introduced marsupial from Australia. They are regarded as pests in New Zealand because they eat native bird eggs and are decimating our native forests. There are many millions of them eating tons of native bush every night. They are often seen on country roads at night and tend to freeze in the headlights. I don't swerve to hit them but if they are in the way clonk,clonk Husta la Vista, baby!

Actually that reminds me, we did not deviate to avoid cane toads when we lived in central queensland!

Three cats in six months?

I'd say the onus lies squarely on the pet owner.

Consider raising a house cat if you want it for long.

I was reading through this thinking that I knew what I would respond only to find that you have already said it

And neither have I, but I have no doubt that someone - even without reflecting on the chance that this might turn into self damage - could somewhere do it.

After reading the full article on the Canadian woman I think the Court was indulgent and generous.

That's what p*sses me off about cat lovers. Such double standards. The possums eat native bird eggs. Yes they are a pest but what about the damage your (non-native) cats do to wildlife. They should be treated with the same respect as you afford possums IMO

Regardless of the type of animal I am always sad when an animal dies. I have two cats and don't want to think about loosing them either through traffic or natural causes. They play an important part in my live...