Question:
A few months back, before winter actually started, my boyfriend and I had been driving home. On our street not even half a block from our apartment we saw the guy ahead of us (who was going illegally fast through the neighborhood) hit a cat and keep going. We pulled over right away and followed the poor thing, but it had crawled under a house, and didn't come to our calls. We assume it died as we never saw the cat in the neighborhood again, and that really hurt because i'd take walks to go see this little sweetheart. He/she was always sitting around on the sidewalk pestering people who walked by. Their license plate was too dirty to read in the dark.
I was thinking about this just now and getting really upset because I do see a lot of hit animals on the roads. Mostly wildlife, but it ticks me off regardless! I don't understand why people do this, and why other people don't report them when they see it. Is there even a law against that kind of thing? I really wish there was something that could be done about these things, but I also think that the owner has some responsibility in this situation. What do you all think about this, though? How bad of a problem is it in your area?


Answer:
Basically, if someone lets their pets roam wild, they have to expect this sort of thing. It's depressing as hell, but true.
The solution is to keep your pets indoors.


Answer:
Around here on back roads its a BIG Problem with wildlife, Its near impossible at times to avoid them. We have hit One dog while driving years back, Hubby and I were in the car, we just couldnt avoid him he ran out of nowhere and it just wasnt able to be avoided. We got out and the dog was gone, we went to the house where he was hit and it was there dog a dumped dog that they feed, they said not to worry just drag him off the road, at the time we didnt have anywhere to burry him and felt so horrible just leaving his body there but we had no choice.
I dont blame the people who hit the animal IF there not trying to purposly hit it. I have seen my father TRY to run over ground hogs pissed me off. The skunks got him back for it though two days lateron his motorcycle they sprayed him, there was justic in the world lol.
I dont think theres a law about hitting an animal and leaving but in not a law person either. As for domesticated animals If your animals out all the time and gets run over I feel its the owners fault for not protecting there animal. If the animal gets out or loose and gets hit I feel its a horrible accident.


Answer:
I have seen where some people see an animal and dont slow down for it.. burns me up... I hate driving down the road and seeing an animal laying there.. the other day driving home from work.. I seen someones pet bunny on the side of the road... how it got there is beyond me!!! it wasnt a wild one.. it had brown and white markings.. not the type you would see in the wild. we had a cat hit when I was younger.. of course I didnt know the "responsibilities" then that I do now.. I would be completely and totally heartbroken if Aspen were to ever get hit!! of course tho.. he is an indoor kitty!


Answer:
It's really sad, and it makes me angry that 1. people don't have enough sense to keep their pet safe, and 2. that some people could be that callous and leave a poor injured animal to die like that.


Answer:
I've been in a car that hit a cat before and I never, ever want to experience that again. The cat came from nowhere - there was no way to avoid him. We stopped the car, I ran back down the road to get the poor cat (he had been hit again by the stupid car behind us) and we rushed the cat to the vet. Too late, though I can't even imagine just leaving the poor cat there.
We found a cat on the side of the road last year and rushed her to emergency (it does warm my heart that two other people stopped to see if the cat was okay). Sadly, she died just after we got her there, but at least she died in someone's arms and not alone on the side of the road.
It burns me up when I see cats (and dogs) running freely, especially in busy traffic areas. I think if a person can't keep their cat indoors in a dangerous area, they shouldn't have the animal. My parents claimed for years that they couldn't keep their neutered male inside and it's such crap. Everyone's just lucky that he wasn't hit by a car while crossing the street. Thankfully they don't let their cats run anymore.


Answer:
I hit my first animal a couple weeks ago. It was a wild bird, and it flew right into my tire as I was driving down the highway. I felt like throwing up, I was so upset. I hated myself right then, even though I knew it was not my fault.
I think the owner should pay. They are the ones that had their pet where it could get out in the street, whether they meant to have it roaming free or not. If my dog slipped out of the fence and was hit, I feel I should pay for it because I was not responsible enough to make sure the gate was secure. It would be a very nice gesture for the one who hit the animal to help pay, but I don't think it is necessary. The only time I would say otherwise is if the driver was driving recklessly (drunk, speeding, etc.), because then they might have been able to avoid hitting the animal if they had been driving safely.


Answer:
I have hit a few birds and a porcupine (spelling?). I was coming up over a hill with limited site distance and there he was blending right in with the road. I couldn't swerve around him or i would have probably ran him over with the tire so I tried to straddle him but with a car i guess it didn't do much good. I felt horrible when it happened.
My mom hit a cat and the weird thing is is that the cat ran across the road as she was passing and ran between the front and back wheels


Answer:
I think that it should depend on the situation. I have many a time seen a driver SWERVE to hit the animal. I think a truly remorseful person would offer to help in any way, and it would be easy to find them because they most likely stuck around after the incident.


Answer:
Yeah, I agree on that. If they did it on purpose, of course they should pay. If it was an accident, the owner should pay. If the person sticks around, they very likely did not mean to hit the animal. If I hit an animal, I would not necessarily be able to pay medical bills without risking not having enough if something happend to my animals. I would certainly offer time to help with care or anything like that and my sincere apologies.