Pisana Deserved Protection On The Road
" On September 8th our beloved, innocent and shy cat Pisana, who was my first ever pet and I’m currently 20, never came back home for a terrible reason. Pisana was never officially our cat as it was the neighbours cat however, she lived with us continuously for months and the neighbours did not say anything or mind as our garden walls are right next to each other and the cats would often be right in front of their door, both their and our garden doors would often be open at the same time and we never kept the cats from going there or anywhere, and I’m sure the neighbours would confirm this if they ever had to. Not only that but, we looked after both Pisana and Bobo, who also lives with us (the only one left now), very very well and they've always slept here. As they like to say the cat chooses you and not the other way around.
I still remember her appearing for the first few times so small, scared and eating some tuna and sweetcorn which I gave her to her (I have so many pictures and videos, all that’s left unfortunately). That evening - 8th September I was coming home and I stopped outside our house as usual when she appeared out of nowhere, followed by our other smaller cat Bobo, who is now also devastated meowing and looking for his older “sister” even though they weren’t related. They always came outside to greet me and I always tried to get them both to come in with me but after a while, if they didn’t, I would just go inside and let them come whenever they feel like it and usually it wouldn’t take too long. However, this time Pisana, who is one of the most innocent and caring cats and I mean it, did not return that night. Same with the following morning, and that’s when I started to regret not calling her more to come inside or trying to pick her up, and that’s when we started worrying as usually she would have been seen wandering around the garden or roofs a few times or came to eat breakfast early in the morning with Bobo. We thought maybe it’s because of the hot weather this week in London and that she was just wandering around. Therefore, we continued hoping for her return the entire day but she never came back. That evening I posted her online on Facebook, and on a few sites. Then I went looking for her on foot with a bag of some of her favourite dry food, but nothing happened.
The following morning I printed posters and flyers to put around the neighbourhood, including through the neighbours letter box who, on paper, own the cat, but they never contacted me back about her being missing. We were thinking she was lost or stolen, which I know now would have been far better than what really happened to her.
Nothing happened that day until the evening when I found a person in a group saying a small cat was killed near me. A cat white with tabby markings and left bleeding on the curb by a driver. This instantly shocked me but I was still hoping that it was not her as she’s not that small and she’s very aware and scared of some things. Maybe it was a stray cat because, at the end of the day, no one wants to think it's their pet that has been killed.
That night a woman sent me some pictures and I had to go out to look at them. The shock I got was insane. My heart dropped as the cat in the picture was exactly like mine, but I was still hoping it wasn't her and trying to look for the smallest differences, but deep down I knew it was her and I knew it was just my brain trying to avoid the truth. I drove away and didn’t tell anyone and cried like I never have before. I’m 20 and as previously mentioned she was my first ever pet as Pisana moved here months before Bobo. Bobo is a lot younger and they got him after her. That night when I got home I sat in my garden with Bobo on my leg, who was clearly also looking for her. I didn’t tell my parents about this. I barley got any sleep and woke up far earlier than usual, again hoping that it’s not her. As the day went by I continued to cry the entire morning and afternoon as it became more clear that it was her. I don’t remember the last time I’ve cried, let alone this much…
Some very helpful and nice neighbours from the other road which connects to my road got in touch with me and told me that they had picked up her body that night and put her in a box to hide from the foxes, which I’m really grateful for. Then they had taken her to a vet the following day, and that’s how I found out she was not micro chipped. At this point her body is still at the vet. We’re going tomorrow to say our final goodbyes and see what we’re going to do.
Later that day, after finding out where she was, I had so many more questions that I wanted answered, like, what happened? Why? Was this intentional? Was it really a car or a person on foot harmed her? So I went back to that road with all the friendly neighbours, who also have a road group chat which I find very interesting and good, and asked more about what happened and asked to check any camera footage as I saw a few dash cams and some cameras on houses. I also saw the dried up blood remains and touched them, even though it might be bad, I didn’t care. That entire evening we all cried as I told my parents during the day. I didn’t eat anything that day as I didn’t feel like it until the night when I ate a peach but later vomited it out.
This is when some of the neighbours sent some footage and luckily, in one of the cameras, you can see the incident taking place but mainly where the driver stopped as the incident took place on the edge of the camera. He stops, gets out, looks a little confused, gets something out the boot, and moves the cat to the curb. He then looks around and drives off again. Even though this might have looked unintentional, I still believe the driver could have possibly avoided this as it happened right next to a turn and there was also a speed bump there, but at least we found out that it wasn’t a person on the road.
At this moment I’m thinking of cremating her, if affordable, as our garden is concrete and we also rent here and would probably move someday as it’s a very small place. I wouldn’t mind sharing the ashes with the neighbours, if that’s possible sorry, I don’t know how it works, even though they don’t seem interested as they didn’t contact me after I put a flyer in their letter box and the cats have been living with us for months. Honestly I don’t think they’re aware of her death.
Pisana only being around 1-2 years old, at most, meant we only really got to love her for a very short period of time - about a year at most. She was so young, innocent, scared, shy and smart, and she would always move like a princess (without a big ego), and would eat so slowly and gently.
At first she didn’t get along with Bobo and he would always attack her, but maybe that’s because he was just a little kitten. Until the final day, they would still fight but far less often, and would even eat from the same bowls, even though we have two bowls. They would lick each other and play fight most of the time, and just recently they started getting along well so it makes it even worse for Bobo. Now he’s always meowing, far more than usual, and looking for her. He's probably asking all the questions I was asking.
Last night Bobo was playing with a real mouse he caught in the garden and I thought it’s in honour of Pisana as a few months ago they chased and fought a mouse together in the garden.
This morning as I woke up, far earlier than usual again, I woke with a heavy heart. I definitely know the meaning of that now as I have previously never really felt it like this. I was thinking about all her spots with some tears in my eyes, all the places she would be at looking at me or next to me or between my legs or fighting with Bobo, or eating from the same bowl with him or inside the top shelf cuddling on top of clothes or even trying to pull open the toilet door with her own paw, and slowly creeping inside to stand in front of whoever was inside and definitely her little meow.
As I was writing this it started slowly raining for a bit and I was thinking maybe if only this happened earlier she would be inside the shelf instead of the roads. Maybe if we persisted more that evening she would have come inside with me and the chain of events would have been very different.
We’re now also very scared about Bobo and call him all the time. I’ve also noticed, ever since she was missing, he’s been in the garden far more than usual, maybe because his sister and guide is no longer here as he always followed her. Even one of the neighbours from the other road told me they’ve seen them together in the church garden next to us walking around.
However, this morning I was thinking maybe that driver only saw the cat and moved her out the way and it wasn’t him who done it? As the footage doesn’t show enough. Not only that but, in the pictures of her next to the curb that the neighbours took before taking her to the vets, her tail looks far shorter than it’s supposed to be, so I’m not sure why? Maybe it was the angle? Maybe something else happened? At least tomorrow we get to see her again as she’s being kept in cold storage. The vet told me that they could possibly do an autopsy but they would have to send her somewhere and I’m not sure what exactly the fee would be.
I’m now thinking of going to ask the last few people for some more camera footage if it’s possible so that we can maybe see if something else happened, or if there’s a better angle, because maybe the person who got out the car only moved her so she’s not on the road and something else or someone else hit her?
I don’t even want to leave these last few days anymore because Bobo is now alone when my parents are working and there’s no Pisana to guide and play with him. Every time we come home he runs out of somewhere and starts cuddling and/or meowing.
THE REASON FOR THIS MESSAGE AND PETITION:
I HAVE MADE A PETITION TO IMPROVE PREVIOUS OR IMPLEMENT NEW LAWS WHICH OFFER MORE PROTECTION FOR CATS AND/OR STEPS WHICH DRIVERS HAVE TO FOLLOW, SUCH AS REPORTING THE INCIDENT TO THE POLICE OR ANOTHER ORGANISATION AT THE BARE MINIMUM AS CURRENTLY CATS DO NOT HAVE THIS PROTECTION, EVEN THOUGH SO MANY OTHER ANIMALS DO. ADDITIONALLY, WHY IS THERE A LAW THAT ALL CATS MUST BE MICROCHIPPED BY A CERTAIN DATE OR YOU COULD BE IN TROUBLE? WHY IS THERE LAWS WHICH MAKE YOU PAY MONEY FOR THINGS RELATED TO YOUR CAT BUT THERE ISN’T MANY LAWS OR AT LEAST SOME TYPE OF RULES TO PROTECT OUR INNOCENT CATS WHO ARE FAR MORE INNOCENT THAN US?
I'm writing this from the UK so it might be different for some people reading this. But I want to spread this message and story globally so at least it can bring some awareness to drive slower and be more aware, which Pisana definitely was but it didn’t save her. Maybe we could actually change/implement some laws? OR AT LEAST add more speed bumps in a lot of areas and make roads safer for animals and humans. This is coming from someone who loves cars.
At the end of the day nothing will bring Pisana back, and this feeling of emptiness and her not being here will always be here. The feeling of something part of you missing and it being so quiet won’t go away but I just want to at least find out the full story and details of what happened and if it was intentional, even though it’s hard to prove that, I want justice if it really was.
Finally, the bare minimum I want for this petition/post to do is spread the message around the UK and the world, or at least make councils make the roads safer - not only by adding LTNs, as some people around London know about them. At first I hated the LTNs, but now maybe they’re a good thing? Or maybe they are not, as this incident might have been avoided if the LTN on that road was not there and the cars didn’t have to come all the way around the other side roads? Or maybe hopefully even change some laws? Hopefully people read it, even though it’s one of the longest things I’ve written. This is coming from someone who hates writing but wanted to write this, and it hurt writing it too.
Thank You VERY MUCH if you got this far, Thank You to all those neighbours and Thank You for any type of support.
Petko "
