Cat v. car: What could possibly go wrong?

I read a letter to the editor the other day where a woman chastised a driver who hit a cat, and another who drove around it, for not stopping to help the cat. Unfortunately, she neglected to state if it was even safe for the drivers to stop their cars? Slamming on the brakes could've done more harm then good. If it was unsafe to stop, the law is not on the cat's side. Cats, or any animal, aren't people. Callous? Perhaps, but that is generally the law, probably based on the fact that animals are more likely to dart out into traffic then people, including children and disobeying it could've led to repercussions.

I once hit a cat on a multi lane road where the speed limit was 45. I saw it on the side, confused, seemingly deciding whether to run across the road or not. Sensing it would make a run for it, I started tapping my brakes. But before I could even slow down, the poor thing just darted out into the road. As there was a car right next to me, and heavy traffic behind, there was nothing I could do. I felt the thump and as I looked out my rear-view mirror I saw it get up and fall back down. I wasn't sure if I hit it, the guy next to me hit or it just bounced off our cars. I assume drivers behind us went around it but there wasn't even anyplace safe for me to pull over. It took a little while for me to circle back, but by then the cat was gone. I was never actually sure I seriously hurt it, I saw no blood or other damage on my car, but to this day it still bothers me.

Of course, I can always take my uncle's perverted point of view. Nearly a half century ago my grandparents lived in an area that was very rural (though today it is quite suburban). They had various feral cats who lived on the property. Several of them were, of course, hunters. One day, one of the cats, brought home a dead dead baby bunny that it had taken out and brought it to my grandmother as an act of love. The next day the cat did the same. And again, the day after. Same for the fourth day. Finally, on the fifth day, it brought home the mama rabbit. My uncle joked that if the mother rabbit was too dumb to remove her bunnies to a better location once the cat came back, then perhaps it was best that this line of genes were removed from the rabbit gene pool. Going by my uncle's logic, it is good that the cats who ran out into traffic are out of the gene pool:* of course I'm assuming they didn't reproduce first, in which case expect to find more cats trying to cross the road.

* Note: I do not advocate running over stray cats with your car. Whenever possible try to avoid doing so. I have several of my own and though they try our patience, especially when they let their displeasure of some action we took, or didn't take, known by breaking something or using my briefcase as a litter box, I'd be pretty upset if they I found them squished on the street.