Fur flies over petition to force drivers to stop if they hit a cat

CAT lovers are in dispute over calls for the pets to be included in traffic laws requiring drivers to report any collision with an animal.

Under the 1988 Road Safety Act drivers have a legal duty to alert the authorities if they run over a dog, a cow and other animals, including horses, sheep, pigs, goats, and mules. But not cats.

Now a petition has been launched calling for cats to be included in the law in order to compel drivers to stop when they hit a cat and report the incident, rather than leaving them to die by the side of the road.

Gemma Conway, who started the petition, which has attracted 159,000 signatures, said: “Recently my cat Bertie went missing, probably hit by a car. I was shocked that it would not be a driver’s duty to try to save his life, or to let me know what had happened.

“More than 230,000 cats are run over every year and the person who runs them over has no responsibility to that animal at all.”

Ms Conway, from Chickerell, in Dorset, said that if cats were included in the Road Safety Act they would have a much better chance of surviving road accidents. She added that if an animal were to be killed in a collision, their owners would at least be notified rather being left to wait in vain for their pet to return. “A cat is as much of a loved pet as a dog is so the same rules should apply,” she said.

However, other cat lovers say such a change in the law could create a new set of problems.

They fear that cats’ freedom to roam would be threatened if they were included in the Road Safety Act, which governs drivers’ responsibility towards animals that are normally kept on a lead, tethered or enclosed in a field.

Cat Matters, a campaign group which works to raise driver awareness of cats on roads, said: “The Act includes a clause which makes it a legal requirement for a person to report to the police if they have struck an animal while driving. The Act also makes it an offence to walk your dog along a road without a lead. This is why including cats in the Road Traffic Act is not the solution.”

Cat Matters argues that separate legislation is required that takes into account the unique nature of cats.

“While we support the idea that it should be illegal to hit a cat and leave the scene without helping, or at the very least, reporting the incident – we are against adding them to the road traffic act,” said Tiya Ivy, the group’s spokesman.

The group is in the early stages of drafting a law to improve the safety of cats on the roads. CONSUMER AFFAIRS EDITOR

FIZZY milk could be coming to supermarket shelves after one of the UK’s biggest milk producers revealed plans to make it the next big trend.

Arla, a dairy company owned by 12,500 farmers, has announced that a “sparkling fruit and milk” drink will be trialled in the UK, Singapore and the UAE before being rolled out across the world.

The move by producers comes as consumers’ tastes move away from cows’ milk towards non-dairy milks such as almond and coconut.

Arla hinted at plans for the drink at the end of last year when it unveiled ambitions to triple the money it makes from milk-based drinks by 2020.

A number of producers have tried – and failed – to launch fizzy milk drinks.

In 2014 Britvic launched “Tango Strange Soda” in the UK, but was scrapped it after less than a year. In 2009 Coca-Cola trialled Vio carbonated milk drinks in the US, but the drink was never brought to Europe.

Milk sales fell by around £240million between 2014 and 2016, according to data compiled by The Grocer.

Meanwhile, this year soya, rice and almond milk were included in the ONS’s “typical basket of goods” list for the first time.

The ONS said that their inclusion reflected the grow- ing popularity of non-dairy milk alternatives.

Earlier this year farmers raised concerns about soya and almond “milk” being described as milk because it does not come from a cow. The National Farmers Union said it had noticed several instances of milk alternatives promoted in a way which does not make clear that they are non-dairy.

EU rules state that certain names are reserved for dairy products, including “yogurt”, “milk”, and “butter”.

It comes after the Advertising Standards Agency The Grocer

banned an Arla advert which said organic dairy farming was “good for the land” for being “misleading”.

Arla’s announcement appears to be the latest move to get consumers interested in milk again. However, fizzy milk may prove more popular in the Middle East, where such drinks are common.

In countries such as Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan a milky drink called Doogh is popular. It is made by mixing yogurt with chilled or iced water and is described as “diluted yogurt”. It is sometimes carbonated and seasoned with mint.