E&I resolve to give cats legal road rights

Thursday 02 January 2020

There could be political backing for a law forcing drivers to report hitting a cat on the roads.

Environment & Infrastructure made reference to the idea, which has had support from some parts of the island for some time now, in a recent review it put together on Guernsey's Integrated Transport Strategy.

It said there were numerous incidents where vehicles on the roads had hit domestic cats, frequently seriously injuring or killing them.

Previously, an islander who lost a cat herself started a petition to try and get a law introduced to stop drivers just leaving cats if they hit them. Amelia Smitheram put together her own research at the time, and estimated there were 400 incidents a year that the GSPCA and Animal Aid combined were called to. This was not including unreported accidents.

The law already says drivers have to notify the police if they hit an animal, but the definition of animal in that case does not include cats.

That could be changing though, as in its review released last weekend, E&I said: "Cats are frequently seriously injured and too often die because of these collisions, but their owners are oblivious to the fact often until it is too late to help.

"Current legislation does not require anyone to report an incident involving a domestic cat, as, unlike horses and dogs, cats are not recognised as animals for the purpose of the relevant traffic laws. 

"The Committee has resolved to improve on there current situation." 

Pictured top: E&I President Deputy Barry Brehaut.