Artifact Posted August 27, 2004 Posted August 27, 2004 Last night on my way home from work I took a different road than I normally do. All of the sudden I noticed something in the road that I though was a bag blowing in the wind. The person in front of me swerved, and when I saw what it was I squealed! (Literally... ) Someone had hit a cat, and it was obvious he was still alive, and not able to move. My mouth was hanging open and I was shaking for about another half a mile. I was thinking about all of the things I could do. Should I turn the car around? Would someone else stop? Where was the nearest pet hospital? Then I started bawling. It just came gushing out. I didn't know what to do and I was so mad at myself! I pulled over and tore up my car looking for the phone book to see where the nearest animal hospital was. I figured it was no use going back if all I did was put him in my car. I am no vet... By this time I was sobbing, hiccuping noises and all. And I turned the car around anyway, knowing I would never forgive myself for not trying. And a few minutes later, when I got back to the same spot in the road someone had just put the cat in her car and I followed her to the vet. Who knew there was a vet two blocks away? It frightened me to think how far I would have driven to my own vet! So, I am just typing this out to get it off my chest. I was pretty shaken up for a couple of hours, crying because I didn't stop immediately to help out. I was in such shock, but I thought I would have better instincts than that. Then I went home and cuddled my cats all night until they got tired of it, turned up their tails, and left me alone to watch TV.
EnigmaXOXO Posted August 27, 2004 Posted August 27, 2004 LOL…I often wonder myself why we seem to have more compassion for animals than we do for each other. (Myself included) Perhaps its because we see them as poor helpless creatures who innocently fall victim to human recklessness while people are mostly the cause of their own tragedies and misfortune? If you ever figure it out, please let me know...because I'd swerve and risk injury to myself to keep from hitting someone's hapless pet...but would not even wince if watching a pedofile or murderer getting rolled under a tractor trailer. Go figure?
Leikela Posted August 27, 2004 Posted August 27, 2004 I think you reacted like a normal human being in a situation like that. I live in a sort of rural area in NJ and we have a huge deer, squirrel, raccoon, and opossum population here. I've hit 3 deer in the 11 years that I've been driving and each time it broke my heart and brough me to tears. They literally jump out of nowhere and there's no time to react. I've seen a car hit a squirrel and have seen it writh in pain and I drove back knowing it would be dead when I got there but couldn't help myself. One night I saw an opossum in the road like the cat you described. It was obviously still alive but couldn't move and was suffering in the middle of the road. It broke my heart but there was nothing I could do for it. My friends suggested that I run it over with my car to put it out of its misery but I didn't have it in me to do that. Instead, I called the local Police Dept and they shot it. It was the only way. When we're taken over by something horrifying we don't know what to do right away. We need time to compose ourselves and figure out a game plan. That's all you were doing. If there is ever a next time, you'll know what to do right away. I am so sorry for that poor cat. How is he/she doing? Will the cat survive?
Author Artifact Posted August 27, 2004 Author Posted August 27, 2004 It's true... people do seem to have more compassion for animals than people sometimes. It was good to read your responses though. It reminded me of the number of times I have driven off the road to avoid a squirrel (and the couple of times I have not swerved enough...) It's a fast world! You just always wish you could do more. I don't know how the cat is doing... but I'll hope for the best Thanks! artifact
moimeme Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 I think the compassion for animals has a lot to do with the fact that they don't and can't understand why something bad happened to them. They can't tell us what hurts, and we can't explain to them what's wrong or if they'll be ok. It's fairly easy to identify with a creature that has been hurt and doesn't understand what happened or why. Not that my mom was an animal, but to me the worst part about her cancer wasn't so much the pain as the fear - it's the emotions the suffering of any species are having that we feel bad about, I think.
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