STOURBRIDGE, UK. October 8th, 2026 – A landmark campaign led by feline welfare organisation CatsMatter is set to bring renewed attention to the legal treatment of cats injured in road traffic collisions, as Parliament prepares to debate a petition supported by 189,192 people. Ahead of World Animal Road Accident Awareness Day on 10 October, the campaign is calling for a fresh examination of whether existing road traffic legislation adequately protects cats and reflects modern public expectations.
The annual awareness day, established by CatsMatter, brings animal welfare organisations together to highlight road dangers, promote preventative measures and remember the millions of domestic and wild animals killed or injured by vehicles each year.
For many families across the UK, the loss or injury of a cat in a road collision is a deeply distressing experience. A 2022 Early Day Motion in Parliament referenced Petplan figures estimating that around 230,000 cats are hit by cars annually in the UK. Not all die at the scene, and many require urgent veterinary treatment to have a chance of survival.
On 26 October, Parliament will debate e-petition 750612, which attracted 189,192 signatures through the CatsMatter campaign, making it the largest cat welfare petition in parliamentary history. MPs will consider whether the law should require drivers to report collisions involving cats, as it already does for horses, cattle, asses and mules, sheep, pigs, goats and dogs.
Mandy Hobbis, spokesperson for CatsMatter, said: “Every day, families receive the phone call they dread, or never receive one at all. For many owners, the hardest part is not knowing what happened to their cat or whether help could have arrived in time. The public increasingly sees cats as family members, and it is reasonable to ask whether current road traffic law reflects that reality. With compulsory cat microchipping now in place, Parliament has an opportunity to reconsider assumptions that may have made sense decades ago but deserve re-examination today.”
A recent House of Commons Library briefing outlines the Government’s established position that the animals covered by Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 were included because they were historically considered working animals rather than domestic pets.
CatsMatter has identified evidence that it believes warrants reconsideration of this distinction.
A 2018 University of Bristol study found that 65% of sampled farms kept farm cats, with a median of two cats per farm. Even assuming a considerably lower prevalence of 30% across England, recent DEFRA farm statistics would indicate a population of approximately 60,000 working farm cats in England, kept primarily for rodent control.
By comparison, using DEFRA sheep farm data and reasonable assumptions regarding farm working dogs, CatsMatter estimates there may be approximately 65,000 working sheepdogs across England. While additional categories such as police, military and assistance dogs exist, these are relatively small in number compared with farm working dogs.
The organisation argues that these estimates raise questions about whether the historical role of working animals fully explains the exclusion of cats from Section 170 when the estimated numbers of working cats and dogs are broadly comparable.
CatsMatter has also questioned another argument previously put forward by the Department for Transport: that motorists may not realise they have struck a cat. A 2023 Hungarian study of animal-vehicle collisions found that uncertainty was reported in just 2.3% of pet collision cases, indicating that drivers were aware of a collision in the overwhelming majority of cases examined.
CatsMatter submitted this evidence to the Department for Transport on 1 September 2026. In a response dated 14 September, the Department confirmed that the issues raised were receiving detailed consideration ahead of the parliamentary debate.
CatsMatter supports initiatives to improve the identification of cats involved in road incidents and to help reunite them with their owners. The Government has commissioned research into practical barriers that can prevent such reunification following a collision.
However, the organisation says it has not seen equivalent evidence of a Government assessment into whether requiring cat collisions to be reported could improve outcomes for animals and their owners.
CatsMatter believes MPs should examine whether legislative reform could lead to more injured cats receiving veterinary treatment, more owners being reunited with their pets, or both.
The issue before Parliament is whether the evidence available today provides sufficient grounds to reconsider cats’ exclusion from Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
David Gibson, a volunteer strategist for CatsMatter, also believes the UK needs a clearer route for the public to obtain emergency help for animals. He is developing the foundations of an initiative informally described as a “999 for animals”.
Gibson said: “Drivers should not be spending time frantically searching online at the roadside for someone who can assist whilst an animal is fading away. The public often has no clear understanding of who to contact, while responsibility is spread across a patchwork of charities, rescues, veterinary providers, councils and emergency services.”
He argues that the absence of a central source of information leaves people uncertain about where to turn, potentially delaying assistance and worsening outcomes. Better coordination, accessible guidance and clearer signposting could help reduce preventable suffering while supporting the organisations already working in this area. The proposal is not to establish another emergency response service, but to create a gateway that directs people to appropriate assistance.
To help advance discussions with stakeholders, Gibson has incorporated Animal Emergency Service Ltd (AES), a mission-locked organisation established for public benefit. AES aims to improve coordination and access to information across the animal emergency landscape while maintaining independent, accountable governance.
AES is expected to launch publicly with a crowdfunding campaign on 30 October, following the parliamentary debate. Government funding is not anticipated.
Concluding on behalf of CatsMatter, Hobbis said “the UK public has made clear that they wish to see a modern legal duty for drivers to stop and assist if they are involved in a collision and it is safe to do so, a requirement already in place in jurisdictions such as Italy and Hong Kong.”
