A woman whose cat’s pelvis was crushed in Rotherhithe by a car driver that failed to stop has begged for the culprit to come forward.
Local woman Rhia Brown’s eight-year-old cat Kindle suffered catastrophic injuries in the Salter Road collision early in the morning last Wednesday (November 24), needing thousands of pounds worth of surgery to fix his broken back legs, a crushed pelvis and severely damaged face.
The driver did not stop, call the police or a vet regarding the collision. Despite campaigners’ efforts, you don’t have to call the police about hitting a cat with your car, although you do have to if you hit a dog or a cow, as well as several other animals.
Rhia is quite optimistic after the operations despite Kindle’s terrible injuries. She said the vet thinks there is a chance that her cat may walk again, although it is too soon to be sure.
The vet’s bills came to about £5,000, although a fundraiser covered much of that. An earlier estimate at a different vet came to about twice as much, leading to fears that surgery might be unaffordable.
“We love Kindle so much, and people say it’s not about the money, but sadly it sometimes is about the money,” Rhia said. “You can’t do payment plans, you have to pay up front. It’s not easy to just pull ten grand out.”
Now Rhia wants the person who ran Kindle over to come forward and apologise.
“I don’t understand how someone can run over an animal and not stop,” she said. “Even if it’s a fox or a hedgehog. The message you’re giving is that it’s okay to run over someone’s pet, even if you don’t think that.”
Rhia added that she thought Kindle, who has lived in Rotherhithe his whole life, had been hit from behind because of the injuries to his legs. She said that he was a cautious cat and would not normally approach cars, or anyone he didn’t know.
Salter Road has a 20mph speed limit. “I can’t see how you would hit a cat,” Rhia said. “With that speed limit it gives you enough time to beep or to stop.”