Why are MPs debating requirements to report road traffic collisions involving cats?

Petitions Committee Survey

Before the debate, the Petitions Committee launched a survey to ask petitioners about their views on including cats in Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. This change would mean that drivers would have to report a collision to the police if it involves a cat.

There were 4,449 responses to the Committee’s survey 

Cat owners who had lost their cat told us that this had negatively impacted their mental health

40% of respondents likened losing a cat to losing a family member 

72% of respondents referred to the negative impact of losing a cat on their mental health 

97% of survey respondents who had lost a cat in a road traffic accident told us they would have felt ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’ better if the driver had to report the collision with their cat to the police.  

People's experiences

When asked how the loss of their cat affected them, respondents told us: 

“Our cat was hit by a car on our road. We have no idea who it was to this day. This happened at night and consequently our poor cat was left in the road until someone with enough heart reported it in the morning. This was devastating for the whole family as he was more than a cat but a member of our family.” 

“I was devastated and became extremely depressed. I then became the target of mockery and bullying, as an adult, because I was grieving the loss of my cat. It's been 10 years and I miss my cat. The way he died was awful. No one deserves that. I keep thinking that maybe if he'd been found sooner - if the person who hit him had taken him to the vet, or phoned someone - he might have had a better chance. But by the time we found him he had gone through too much.” 

You can read the summary of responses on our website.

Minister for Roads and Local Transport, Richard Holden MP, responded to the debate. He said

"As Members, including the hon. Member for Gower, have made clear, cats tend to roam unaccompanied and are likely to go out at night. Drivers may not realise that they have had a collision with a cat in some instances, as they are small animals, similar to rabbits or other wild animals that can cross roads late at night. There are also hazards associated with stopping to check whether animals are alive after people have knocked them over, especially with very small animals. A requirement to report road collisions involving a cat would be difficult to enforce, especially when, as hon. Members have made clear, Petplan suggests there might be hundreds of thousands of these incidents brought forward a year.

"In the last few years, we have pushed microchipping. It is the best way of reuniting owners with pets that have been tragically killed, stolen, or had a variety of other issues. Since the introduction of compulsory microchipping for dogs in 2016, over 90% of the dog population has been microchipped. That has been particularly successful in increasing reunification rates for stray dogs.

"As hon. Members from across the House have pointed out, we have a manifesto commitment to introduce compulsory cat microchipping, and we consulted on that last year [...] We are committed to introducing it, and we will lay the legislation for England before Parliament in the coming weeks. I hope that the devolved Administrations will follow closely, as this is a devolved issue in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland."