Who's liability?

AdrianC

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Turns out that it's going to be made law that running over an out of control cat a "reportable" incident...

No, it isn't.

There's a private members bill to introduce such a law - it's nearly a year since it had its first reading, and it's stalled there, because there's zero parliamentary will to schedule any time for it. Which is exactly what happens to the vast majority of PMBs, if they don't get Choped.
https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/cats.html

Cats are simply viewed very differently by the law to dogs, because the law recognises that humans can be in control of dogs, but cannot be in control of cats. That ain't going to change.
https://www.cats.org.uk/uploads/documents/block/EG13_Cats_and_the_law.pdf

DoaM

MovingForwards wrote: »

and they had seen it deliberately run over.

That can be proven?

Car_54

AdrianC wrote: »

No, it isn't
Cats are simply viewed very differently by the law to dogs, because the law recognises that humans can be in control of dogs, but cannot be in control of cats. That ain't going to change.
https://www.cats.org.uk/uploads/documents/block/EG13_Cats_and_the_law.pdf

Also, it seems clear that the law was originally designed (early 20th Century) to protect valuable livestock (cattle, sheep, pig, goat) and working animals (horse, !!!, mule, dog).

Non-working pet dogs, horses etc. are essentially covered as a by-product.

Nick_C

Much as I love cats, and I try to avoid killing any animals in the road, making killing a cat reportable would be a ridiculous waste of Police resources.

Maybe the RSPCA could set up an online database for voluntary reporting.

CardinalWolsey

Nick_C wrote: »

Much as I love cats, and I try to avoid killing any animals in the road, making killing a cat reportable would be a ridiculous waste of Police resources.

Maybe the RSPCA could set up an online database for voluntary reporting.

Just get a friend to post the details on the local Facebook "community watch" group. The owner will soon find out.

angrycrow

If the owner has been responsible and chipped the cat and then kept the details upto date all it takes is someone taking the cat to a vet to get notification to the owner. All part of being a responsible pet owner.

suki1964

Car_54 wrote: »

"The intention is there ..."


The intention of one backbench MP and a number of his misguided supporters. Its chances of becoming law are about the same as those of my winning the lottery.

Precisely because then the ruling that cats can not be owned will have to be over ruled

Maybe owned is the wrong word, but its written in law that cats are free to roam, ie, owners are not responsible for where they end up

Car_54

[QUOTE=suki1964;75945085
Maybe owned is the wrong word, but its written in law that cats are free to roam, ie, owners are not responsible for where they end up[/QUOTE]
The Cats' Protection League say otherwise.


"A cat that is lost or has strayed is generally regarded as the property of the original owner, according to animal charity Cats Protection.

Cats Protection also says that it is a commonly-held view that cats have a right to roam wherever they wish. This view is largely based upon the fact that certain duties imposed upon the owners of dogs and livestock to keep their animals under control do not apply to cat owners.

The law in these respects recognised that, by their nature, cats are less likely than some other animals to cause injury to people or damage to property.

However, cat owners do have a general duty under law to take reasonable care to ensure that their cat does not cause injury to people or damage to property."


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9968640/How-the-law-views-cats.html

Ergates

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Anyway my point is.....Is this the first step in making motorists liable for vets bills?

That's never happened with dogs, so why would it with cats?