one week later
I called the vet on Thursday night to see if anyone had claimed the cat I had found. Nope. They said that they had Animal Control come to take the body. I tried calling Animal Control on Friday, but it was one of the alternate Fridays that they were closed. So, I called this morning, right at opening time. (I had to redial a number of times; it was busy for the first 10 minutes. I'm not sure whether this was other people dialing at the crack of opening, or if they come in and take the phone off the hook for 10 minutes while they get things together for the day.) No, nobody had called them to claim her, either. Also, "You do understand why you can't claim the remains, when she's not your property?", with an abrubt hangup. *SIGH* I was expecting something like that, but still. I had to try.
I'm not surprised. An outdoor cat with no collar and no chip, kind of indicates to me the level of care. (Yes, it could be an escaped indoor cat, or lost its collar, or the owner could be on vacation, or a dozen of other things, but I make inferences based on the available facts.) I was going to take down the signs today, having been a week, but i was hit by a dose of snippiness after calling Animal Control. ("If they can't even bother to claim the cat, I'll force them to look at the signs until they themselves take them down.") I'll probably go and remove them sometime soon anyways, just so they won't be litter. Maybe next week.
I was pondering what her name would be, and came up with "Melody". Not sure why, but it seems to fit. Poor girl. I don't know what her life was like, but it seems so sad to have her death be so ignored.
And as for whoever hit her - well, i can think of two possibilities. One: whoever hit her didn't realize it. That would be a very distracted or inattentive driver. Mostly asleep, putting on makeup, yelling at kids, eating, talking on the phone, drunk at 8AM, 85 years old with failing eyesight - if you can hit a 10 pound object and not know it, I daresay you ought not be driving. Two: whoever hit her did realize it, but didn't bother to stop. Which means that they're (in my book) heartless and uncaring. The one way which would make it acceptable is if someone had hit her in a mad rush to take an injured person to the hospital. (In theory, such a person could call for someone to check on the cat afterwards; in practice, someone in that situation could easily be forgiven for forgetting.) Injured person is allowed to trump injured cat.
So, well, I guess that's it. I've done what I can, and there doesn't seem to be much else. Maybe make a donation to a cat rescue in her name. And tell my cats that they're safe and loved as indoor kitties.
I'm not surprised. An outdoor cat with no collar and no chip, kind of indicates to me the level of care. (Yes, it could be an escaped indoor cat, or lost its collar, or the owner could be on vacation, or a dozen of other things, but I make inferences based on the available facts.) I was going to take down the signs today, having been a week, but i was hit by a dose of snippiness after calling Animal Control. ("If they can't even bother to claim the cat, I'll force them to look at the signs until they themselves take them down.") I'll probably go and remove them sometime soon anyways, just so they won't be litter. Maybe next week.
I was pondering what her name would be, and came up with "Melody". Not sure why, but it seems to fit. Poor girl. I don't know what her life was like, but it seems so sad to have her death be so ignored.
And as for whoever hit her - well, i can think of two possibilities. One: whoever hit her didn't realize it. That would be a very distracted or inattentive driver. Mostly asleep, putting on makeup, yelling at kids, eating, talking on the phone, drunk at 8AM, 85 years old with failing eyesight - if you can hit a 10 pound object and not know it, I daresay you ought not be driving. Two: whoever hit her did realize it, but didn't bother to stop. Which means that they're (in my book) heartless and uncaring. The one way which would make it acceptable is if someone had hit her in a mad rush to take an injured person to the hospital. (In theory, such a person could call for someone to check on the cat afterwards; in practice, someone in that situation could easily be forgiven for forgetting.) Injured person is allowed to trump injured cat.
So, well, I guess that's it. I've done what I can, and there doesn't seem to be much else. Maybe make a donation to a cat rescue in her name. And tell my cats that they're safe and loved as indoor kitties.