On February 3, 2026, the Department for Transport issued its latest response to campaigners demanding legal protection for cats killed on British roads. According to Yorkshire Live, the DfT stated it has "no current plans" to make reporting cat collisions a legal requirement, despite a petition currently gathering signatures and multiple previous campaigns that reached over 102,000 supporters.
The disparity in law is stark. Under Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, drivers who hit a dog, horse, cow, pig, sheep, goat, mule, or donkey must stop and report the collision to police. Hit a cat and drive away? Perfectly legal.
The government's reasoning, as outlined in responses to Parliament petitions, centers on the distinction between working animals and domestic pets. The original 1988 legislation was designed to protect animals with economic or working value. Dogs made the list because many were working animals at the time, though the vast majority of dogs today are pets, exactly like cats.
The Numbers Behind the Campaign
Data from Petplan cited in the 2023 parliamentary debate revealed approximately 230,000 cats are run over annually in the UK, equating to 630 every day. Thirty-five percent of drivers admitted to having hit a cat. With 12.2 million cats living in UK households as of that debate, the actual figures are likely higher now.
The first major petition demanding change came in 2015, gathering 115,000 signatures on Change.org. In 2022, constituent Olivia Holland-Rose started another petition after her cat D'Artagnan was killed by a driver who left him on the roadside. That petition reached 102,437 signatures and triggered a parliamentary debate in January 2023.
MPs from across parties supported the change. As documented in UK Parliament records, 97% of survey respondents who had lost a cat in a road traffic accident said they would have felt "a lot" or "a little" better if the driver had been required to report the collision.
The debate produced sympathetic statements from ministers and promises of compulsory cat microchipping legislation "in the coming weeks." That was January 2023. The microchipping requirement still has not been implemented as of February 2026.
The Government's Position
The DfT's latest response, published alongside the announcement of a new Road Safety Strategy targeting a 65% reduction in road deaths and serious injuries by 2035, maintains the same arguments against including cats in reporting requirements.
According to Yorkshire Live, the department argues that cats are considerably smaller than other listed animals and are typically most active at dawn or dusk, which may leave drivers unaware they have struck one. The government also claims a reporting requirement would be difficult to enforce.
The 2023 parliamentary debate included similar reasoning from ministers, noting in Hansard records that drivers may not realize they have hit a cat because they are small animals similar to rabbits or other wildlife, and that there are hazards associated with stopping to check on animals late at night.
The Highway Code's Rule 286 advises drivers to report any accident involving an animal to the police if possible, but advice carries no legal weight. Drivers who choose to ignore it face no consequences.
What Owners Experience
Survey responses collected by the Petitions Committee and published in the House of Commons Library research briefing document the impact on families who lose cats this way.
One respondent wrote: "Our cat was hit by a car on our road. We have no idea who it was to this day. This happened at night and consequently our poor cat was left in the road until someone with enough heart reported it in the morning. This was devastating for the whole family as he was more than a cat but a member of our family."
Another stated: "I was devastated and became extremely depressed. I then became the target of mockery and bullying, as an adult, because I was grieving the loss of my cat. The way he died was awful. No one deserves that. I keep thinking that maybe if he'd been found sooner, if the person who hit him had taken him to the vet, or phoned someone, he might have had a better chance."
Cats are microchipped. Owners pay for vaccinations, insurance, and veterinary care. The animals are legally classified as property. Yet when they die on roads, their owners have no right to be informed, and the drivers who kill them have no legal obligation to stop.
The Enforcement Argument Collapses
The government claims enforcement would be difficult, particularly given the potential for hundreds of thousands of incidents annually. But the law already requires reporting for dogs, and enforcement of that requirement does not appear to present insurmountable challenges.
The distinction becomes even weaker when considering that many drivers do not realize they have hit a cat. If drivers genuinely cannot tell when they have struck an animal, they cannot be prosecuted for failing to report something they were unaware of. The law would only apply to drivers who knowingly hit a cat and chose to leave.
Meanwhile, best practice guidelines issued by the government, as noted in the Commons Library briefing, expect local authorities to scan any cat or dog found on streets for microchips. The infrastructure for reuniting owners with deceased pets exists. What is missing is the legal requirement for drivers to initiate that process.
Where This Leaves Cat Owners
Multiple petitions. Over 100,000 signatures. A full parliamentary debate with cross-party support. Government promises of microchipping legislation that never materialized. And as of February 2026, the latest official response: no current plans to change the law.
Campaigners can continue submitting petitions. The current one needs to reach 100,000 signatures to trigger another parliamentary debate, where MPs will once again express sympathy and ministers will once again decline to act. The pattern is established.
Dogs, horses, cattle, mules, sheep, pigs, goats, and donkeys receive legal recognition under the Road Traffic Act. Cats do not. The government considers this arrangement acceptable and sees no reason to modify legislation that is nearly 40 years old. Cat owners whose animals are killed and left on roadsides will continue to rely on the kindness of strangers rather than the obligations of the law.