Editor:
Re: Speeders be warned, Aug. 30 letters.
I am saddened the McDougall family has lost two cats due to them being run over by a car, but I’m surprised the letter writer feels the driver is at fault.
Pets are extremely unpredictable. Most animals are not road savvy and most drivers drive defensively and try not to hit something that runs out on the road and has seemed to come from nowhere.
Cats can be in a bush and decide to dart out across the road, and I can understand that a driver can’t stop in time. I remember a duck flying out of a ditch in front of my car, and I hit it. I pulled over to look for it but couldn’t find it, so I’ll never know if I killed it or not, but I felt sick.
Most responsible drivers will stop and talk to a nearby neighbour to see if someone owns the cat, but there are the exceptions. Maybe they feel so awful they can’t face the owner and are scared, so the only way to deal with it is to drive off.
You never know how you will react until it happens to you.
My advice to the McDougall family after losing two cats to road kill would be to keep your cat indoors. You can know it’s safe.
D. Young, Surrey
• • •
First, I would like to send my sympathy to the McDougall family on the loss of their two pets.
I find it difficult to understand why the people who accidentally kill animals on our roads are at fault for “driving carelessly.” Road kill on our streets and highways are caused by the animals being on the roads. It is difficult to see them as they dash into the paths of vehicles.
I don’t think anyone intentionally hits an animal, and I am sure they feel terrible, especially when it is someone’s pet.
What was the cat doing on the road? Why, after losing one pet to “careless, speeding” drivers, would they not take responsibility for their pet’s life? Please buy a leash for the next animal so the poor children do not have to experience having another family pet killed.
Dog owners seem to have gotten the message and most dogs are now on leashes or kept contained in yards. When are owners of cats going to get the message?
P. Moreau, Surrey
