I am campaigning for change after my two beloved cats were left to die in agony by the roadside

A heartbroken cat owner who lost two of them on the roads is calling for urgent change via a petition.

Mandy Hobbis and her friend Tiya Ivy have joined forces with the Cats Matter petition ready to hand in to parliament after suffering heartbreak.

It is calling for legislation that would require drivers to report collisions with cats rather than just driving off.

Dogs already receive legal protection under the Road Traffic Act, yet cats—despite being the UK’s second most common companion animal—do not.

This leaves thousands of families every year without answers, and it leaves injured cats without the urgent help they may desperately need.

The petition seeks to change that by making the reporting of cat collisions a legal requirement.

Snowy

Mandy said: “Our parliamentary petition to reform roadside animal laws and protect cats has now passed 176,000 signatures, and we are making a final public push to reach 200,000 by the end of tomorrow when the petition closes.

“I lost my white cat Snowy and black/white patches cat Mosh.

“It was 3 years ago Snowy was hit by a car. He was left on the road by the driver that hit him and all the motorists that also ran over him.

“No one felt he was important enough to stop and help or even move him off the road out of further harms way.

“When he didn't come home for his tea that night, which he always did, I did the usual - walked round the estate calling him, and posted flyers through doors asking for any information as to his whereabouts. Eventually someone responded to my flyers saying they had seen him on the road just by house and they'd contacted the council to come and collect his remains.

“At that time, the council did not scan for microchips so I was never notified. When I found out the council had taken him, I phoned the council to enquire if they had picked up a pure white cat off my road around the time the lady said she had reported him, and they admitted they did.

“They said I would not be able to have his body back to lay him to say goodbye and lay him to rest because he'd already been sent to landfill with the general waste they'd also collected that day.”

Mosh

A couple of years later, Mandy’s childhood cat Mosh, suffered the same cruel and horrific fate.

Reliving the horror once again, Mandy said: “He was a very special cat who had been with me through my late teenage years and snuggled up to me of a night when I'd had the usual teenage problems.

“He was there through everything and was one of those cats that would sit on the wall and let all the school kids passing stroke him and talk to him.

“He'd also visit the local Morrisons - he loved people. Everyone loved him! One day he just didn't come home.

“He was always around somewhere, he never went too far and if he did he wasn't too long. The whole family searched everywhere for him and shared all the usual missing flyers in local lost and found pages and groups on social media.

“A few nights later, my brother heard a weak meow coming from some bushes. It was Mosh. He was unable to move, he'd broke his pelvis and legs and was so weak he couldn't move even if his legs would allow it.

“He was rushed to the vets where they hooked him up to all sorts. Eventually, the vets said they had done all they possibly could and there wouldn't be any quality of life if we allow him to continue.

“We had to make the worst decision no pet owner ever wants to make.”

Mandy, who is from Oldham, now has another two cats but has invested in cat fencing so they can't free roam.

She added: “Sadly, the world is not a safe place for them anymore. Myself and a girl called Tiya, who had had a similar situation happen to her, decided we have to do something.

“It just can't be right that cats are legally allowed to be hit and left on the road scared, alone, in pain, or worse.

“All we want is for drivers to help the cats. It's not about punishing drivers as we know accidents happen, but what we can't accept is that they are then left to suffer. They deserve to be helped should the worst happen, and that's why the petition is all about.”

You can sign the petition here