So yesterday, if you follow me on any social networking site at all, you’d have heard that I saw a cat get knocked down yesterday. I carried it off the road, onto the grass, tried to make it comfortable and phoned the SSPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). The poor cat was dying as soon as it was hit by the car, as his head bore the brunt. As an animal lover, I was devastated, but acted automatically to make sure the cat wasn’t hit again.The cat was taken away by an SSPCA warden, at which point he was dead. Nothing could be done for the cat, and thankfully he seemed to die relatively quickly.
But what bothers me, is that as well as me, and the poor woman who hit the cat (she came back to scene), 5 other people were walking past, and none of them even looked. It was like they ignored it. Surely, a person who is nice, would at least make another creature comfortable if it was in pain. Or maybe, that’s just me. I was crying out loud, and the pool of blood on the road was evident of an accident. But people just walked past, after glancing at me and the cat, and then at the road. I would have wanted someone to sit with my cat, so that’s what I did.
I had a think about it afterwards, about how people reacted to the situation. Which if you witness, is the worst thing ever. But even to see someone in distress, and crying openly, I would stop and see if they were ok. A lady who saw the accident from my work came out, as did a girl I work with. But everyone else just ignored it. I was about 7 feet away from a bus stop, and the guy waited for his bus and watched me trying to keep the cat breathing. I felt a bit strange at that. It was like he didn’t want to be involved.
What if it was a person, or if the car had crashed, would he have helped then? I don’t think he would have. I don’t think a lot of people would have. To me it is nature, because I would always expect someone to act like that to help me. But what if they don’t? What if people just watch, like they did with the cat? I have seen it where people have fallen and hurt themselves, and it is the same, people stand and watch as one person tries to help.
As a person who values all living life in the same light, despite what type of creature it is, I struggle to understand the concept, of people not helping. I would always expect someone to help me, or any of my family or friends, and I wouldn’t dare expect that, if I wouldn’t do the same for someone else. This is also the same for animals, as I didn’t have the heart to leave that little kitten in the road to be run over by other cars. I would hope that other people would do the same. But, if I wasn’t there, then I think the cat would have lay on the road, untill the council would scrape the remains off the road the following day. If you have a pet, or know anyone who has one, you would want it to die as comfortable as possible.
If you can reason letting one animal suffer without aid, what’s saying you would not use the same excuses if it were a person? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see why there would be a difference, and why you wouldn’t help any creature that was in pain?
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