A new law was recently proposed in Parliament under which drivers who hit cats on the road will have to report it to the police. The so-called Cats Bill is trying to change the Road Traffic Act from 1988, making any accident involving a cat on the road a legal requirement. The law was brought forward thanks to local welfare group Animals Lost and Found Kent. At the moment, drivers don’t need to report cat collisions on the road. However, the law covers dogs, foxes, horses, and pigs among other animals.
Campaign group Cats Matter is supporting the change of the law. Their co-founder Mandy Lowe says that it could save thousands of cat lives in the future. The group also proposes that councils scan roadside cats for microchips regularly so owners are notified of accidents. Things are going great so far, with 50 UK councils agreeing to scan cats on the roadside.
Every year, there are 230,000 deaths cats killed on UK roads, and the number is on the rise. With the proposed new law, it could help fix things, saving thousands of cats in the process.
