'Change law to stop people who run over cats from driving away' plea

'Change law to stop people who run over cats from driving away' plea EXCLUSIVE: Ministers face calls to change to law to ensure drivers who run over cats are required to report it in the same way they have to for dogs and cattle Drivers who run over cats should be legally required to inform police, ministers have been urged - with campaigners demanding a law change. At the moment motorists are required to report collisions with a range of animals including dogs, goats and cattle, but this does not apply to cats. Lib Dem MP Freddie van Mierlo told the Mirror this needs to change - as drivers should do what they can to prevent suffering. It follows a hit-and-run in his Henley and Thame constituency, which saw a cat suffer horrific injuries to her back legs after being struck by a 4x4. The car drove off, leaving the pet - named Maurice - injured in the road. Mr van Mierlo said: "So the police reviewed the footage and don't believe it was deliberate, but the facts are that nobody stopped, and they weren't obliged to. Animals are sentient, and the idea that they could just be hit and be left by the side of the road to suffer is unacceptable. "And that's before we consider how important they are as pets and as members of our families." Earlier this year nearly 190,000 people signed a petition calling for the law to be changed, and the measure is set to be debated in Parliament next month. In June Maurice, who regularly sits at a toll bridge in Whitchurch on Thames in Oxfordshire, was struck in an incident caught on CCTV. Frantic staff found her the following day, and a fundraiser for her treatment has raised more than £10,000. Mr van Mierlo said: "Most upstanding citizens, if they sadly hit a cat, they will stop and try and identify it and take it to a vet and do the right thing." He said a change to the law would require people to stop, but would not see drivers prosecuted for criminal wrongdoing if the collision was an accident. A petition, to be debated in Westminster Hall by MPs, states: "It is legal in the UK to hit a cat when driving and not need to stop or report collisions, leaving them scared, alone, and in pain. Cats are important, loved, valued family members for many and we believe the law should reflect this. "We want the Government to legislate to require drivers to stop, check and report any road collisions with cats if they’re injured on the road, and holds drivers accountable if they fail to stop and report a collision involving a cat on the basis they left a cat to unnecessarily suffer." The RSPCA is calling for the law to change. The charity's head of public affairs, David Bowles, told The Mirror: “We know the worry and distress that comes from owners never knowing what happened to their cat, the uncertainty and heartbreak of not knowing whether they’re alive or dead, or not being able to say goodbye. Reporting if you hit a cat with your car to the police and scanning the cat for a microchip in order to contact the owners gives them the closure they deserve.” A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson told The Mirror: “We know it's very distressing for pet owners when their pets are involved in road collisions. “Although it's not mandatory to report road collisions with cats and we have no plans to change this, drivers should make every effort, if possible, to find and inform the owner."