CCTV footage shows they reversed at about 40 mph... they don't have the number plate.

Is it o.k to kill a cat and not tell anyone?

Apparently yes, although you have to report dogs. There was a thread on GD about it a while back.

OMG!!!

Thanks Les

Yep Joni M - sadly and maddeningly enough it is ok legal-wise to run over a cat and not even have to report it .

I suppose if they could prove that the people run over the cat on purpose, they could be done for animal cruelty.

It reminds me of a story. My OH's friend had a cat that had gone missing for a while. Their neighbours came around and told them that they were really sorry, but they had found that the cat had been run over (they brought it round in a bin bag). My OH's friend went to the lengths of burying the cat, and they were obviously upset.

A few days later, the cat in question walked back in through the back door. They had buried somebody else's cat!

I thank youWas the daughters cats

Unfortunately, yes...

Were they reversing full stop or reversing after hitting the cat?

If the latter then methinks they might have a bit of a pickle in arguing they ran over it twice out of compassion...

I'm sure it is true that, legally, you do not have to report it if you accidentaly run over a cat.

But I don't think that it is legal to deliberately run over a cat If there is CCTV evidence that this is what happened, I would show it to the police. Even if there is no evidence who it was, at least they will have it on file. Probably, nothing will come of it, but nevertheless ...

Wow I'm surprised its okay to kill a cat. What happens if you do kill a dog, you can't get jail time though can you?

*I don't have plans to kill any dogs*

The assumption is that animals have no road sense, it's always their fault in an accident, unless it's a collie that's smart enough to use a pelican crossing properly of course. You don't stand a risk of prosecution for hitting a dog, but you bloody well should go to jail if you ran one over on purpose. That would be cruelty, not an RTA.

Before anyone starts getting really upset on behalf of the OP's friend ... I think that this thread is an attempt at humour, and response to another thread posted an hour two beforehand.

I could be wrong ... but I doubt it.

Mrs Slocombe knew a thing or two about looking after cats ... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=unmkX15AeN8

Pretty much the same thing happened to me years ago. I was living in lodgings and just going to bed one morning (I work nights), when someone knocked on the door and told me my landlords cat had been run over. I went and collected poor kitty from the scene of the accident and brought her home. When landlord came home from work I was just breaking the news to him that his beloved Sophie was no more, when Sophie sauntered through the door looking very alive and unsquashed!
She was a pretty unusual looking cat and I'd never seen another one like her in the area so it remained a complete mystery whose cat I had scraped off the road. Kitty got a decent burial, it's just a shame the owners were left never knowing what happened.

You don't get jailed if you run over a dog, unless there is evidence that it was deliberate or malicious.

The issue is that dogs are deemed to have to be under the owner's control at all times so, in theory, the owner is more likely to be punished for not having the dog under control and allowing it to roam into the road than the person who ran the dog over.

Cats do not have to be under their owner's control at all time (fat chance!) and that is why you don't have to report running one over. They are not deemed to be anyone's responsibility.