A 15-YEAR-old from Oswestry has made a petition to give cats the same rights as dogs after her eight months old cat was viciously killed in a hit-and-run.
Holly Wyton has raised Ossy, her cat, since the day he was born, until he was ran over at only eight months old, on Tuesday, February 21.
Holly desribed Ossy as a beautiful blonde-ginger fur, a pink nose with a single freckle, and beautiful soft ears.
She said: "I had raised him since the day he was born, I was 14 then and am 15 now.
"I was and still am utterly devastated at this loss, the thing that frustrates me is Ossy was not dead on impact.
"He was hit, ran and hid in bushes and then died."
Holly continued: "If he was reported on impact, maybe me and my family could have been able to comfort him when he needed it.
"Me and my family were utterly heartbroken when we were told, but angry at the fact there was nothing we could do."
The girl raised the issue that not many cats are dead on impact, and that if the person who hit Ossy would have reported it sooner, the family would have had a chance to say goodbye.
She said: "Maybe he would even be here.
"Under the 1988 road traffic act, if you hit a dog or farm animals you legally have to report it or can get a fine up to £5000.
"But you can hit five cats and get nothing- five cats, five families who love that cat.
"Whether it’s a single woman or a full fledged family with children, it's not fair."
Holly added that this is not the first time that this has happened and that for most people cats are treated as "just pets".
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"I am not the only one, so many of my friends and family members have not been able to save their own cats, and while to so many people they are “just pets”, to so many others they’re so much more, they are a part of their family" she added.
Holly has since created an online petition to add cats into the law that in case of an incident regarding cats people should be legally obliged to report it.
She added: "At the very least, the owners know everything that could have been done to help their cat, was done."
To support Holly's online petition visit https://chng.it/2yNHyFxJ and her instagram supporting the petition at @protect_the_cats
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