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Animal lover puts dead cat in bag to warn of speeding


A ROAD safety campaigner put a dead cat in a bag, hung it on railings and wrote on it ‘Speeding Kills’ to protest about driving on a Beaconsfield road.

Bob Musk said he hoped the stark image would make drivers think twice about breaking the 30mph limit on Gregories Road.

Mr Musk – who has been involved in speeding campaigns in the town – said he heard a screech of brakes at 8.30am this morning.

Mr Musk said: “I'm just sick to death of things like this happening.

“The driver who hit it didn’t even have the decency to stop and see if they could do anything for the animal. How cruel, inhuman and remorseless was that?”

He said: “If anyone did see the bag then it might strike home.”

Mr Musk called the RSPCA, who recorded the death in case the animal is reported missing, and South Bucks District Council for it to be removed.

He is deputy chairman the town's Neighbourhood Action Group, a group set up by Thames Valley Police to gauge residents’ priorities.

Mr Musk said: “Speeding always come up as residents' biggest concern in the town and is an ongoing problem.

“However the NAG is working hard with our partners to find a solution.”

The group has been given speed recording devices by the police for use on the road.

A police spokesman said the death of the cat was not a matter for the force.


Your Say YourBucks

Craig...., Coventry says...
1:50pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Let me make sure I understand this.

Mr Musk retrieved the body of someones pet from the side of the road, dropped it in a plastic bag and hung it from some railings to make a tenuous point.

Completely aside from the fact that there is no evidence the car in question was speeding, this man thought he would use the death of an animal to get himsellf in the paper.

I'm sickened.

boups1984@hotmail.com, High Wycombe says...
2:20pm Thu 29 Jul 10

My beloved cat was hit and killed 2 months ago. I understand his reasons because to stop speeding, but if the woman that found my cat had put her in a bag to warn other drivers, rather than take her to the vet like she did, I would have been extremely upset!

Good Life, Nr Thame says...
2:21pm Thu 29 Jul 10

What a despicable way to deal with a poor unfortunate animal who just mis-judged the road and the car, the same unfortunate thing (heaven forbid) but it happens may happen to a person so just keep this this man away from the accident scene because he will string you up in a bag and hang you from a tree as an example of not judging your ability to cross the road safely! nothing but a publicity seeker with too much time on his hands.

678, Marlow says...
2:45pm Thu 29 Jul 10

"He is deputy chairman the town's Neighbourhood Action Group"

Read between the lines....local busybody with nothing better to do, why doesn't he take up golf or something....moron. If this is big society you can keep it.

wayneo, bucks says...
3:08pm Thu 29 Jul 10

This is the result of letting half-witted pompous prats with clipboards running speed-check. Asides from the health risks with hanging a dead animal from a tree,,Musk has absolutely no way whatsover of determining whether this unfortunate creature was killed as a result of a speeding driver.

pennman, Penn says...
3:12pm Thu 29 Jul 10

I saw a dead Westie dog by the roadside a few weekends ago. I felt sick.
There is no way of knowing if someone was speeding or not, but the problem is that on Gregories Road people do speed and often at well over the 30 limit. It could easily be a child hit next time.

TerriersResident, Wycombe says...
3:58pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Well done Sir on your campaigning for less speed - just two points i'd like to make

1) How dare you put someones beloved pet into a plastic bag and hang it from a fence - if you had done this to my cat, I'd have put you in the bag and hung you from the fence
2) What proof do you have that the driver was speeding?

Ralph Malph, hp13 says...
4:01pm Thu 29 Jul 10

What a complete and utter cretin. If he cared one iota for the cat or it's owner he'd never have dreamed of doing such a callous and stupid thing.

I had a cat killed on the road once - by someone doing a three-point turn. This moron has no idea if the cat was killed by someone speeding and if he'd done that with my cat, well, let me just say he would learn a lesson about respect.

Someone called him a busy-body, well I think that was far too kind.

erm, ermsville says...
4:04pm Thu 29 Jul 10

animal lover,what a total, total, total fool. It probably wasn't killed by a speeding car, it probably suffocated!

holtspurgirl, beaconsfield says...
4:25pm Thu 29 Jul 10

What colour was the cat as there are signs in Holtspur about a missing cat.

DonkeyWobbler, holmer Green says...
4:53pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Previous points all very valid, no way of knowing the car in question was speeding, very disrespectful to the cat and the owner.

However you have all missed the most obvious and important point (s).

a) Noone on the road is going to see this small writing, and even if they did it doesn't say there is a cat in there.
b) Anyone who is driving and see's this poses the risk of crashing as a result of trying to read it.

so. 0 benefit, greatly increased hazard.

No need to have a go at the chap in question as his heart, all be it quite obscurely, in the right place. But he does need to be told that he hasn't really thought it through properly.

hondo, Booker says...
4:58pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Some-one trying to read an illegal distracting notice probably ran over the cat.
.
Speeding - the cat?
.
Moron.

ferrellcat, the grass says...
5:49pm Thu 29 Jul 10

wonder was the cats name bagpuss

struthie, Amersham says...
5:51pm Thu 29 Jul 10

He is not an animal lover!
Sick man.

little princess, Downley says...
6:00pm Thu 29 Jul 10

struthie wrote:
He is not an animal lover! Sick man.
I agree - He is a total sicko.

For goodness sakes, my cat sits in the middle of my road. He is begging to be run over. Cats don't understand the green cross code. If I ran in front of a car doing 30mph, I would guess that I would be hurt or possibly killed. Mind you, wont be doing that near his house as I might find myself hanging from a tree with some doofus second guessing how fast the car that hit me was travelling.

john_b, Wycombe says...
6:44pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Well, the cat is certainly out of the bag now!

Wait, what?

Melanie1, Amersham says...
7:08pm Thu 29 Jul 10

I'd suggest that the title of this article "Animal lover puts dead cat in bag to warn of speeding" is a fallacy.
.
A true animal lover would have taken the cat to the vet, even though it was dead, to ascertain whether or not it had a microchip and thus potentially alleviating a families misery in wondering where their beloved pet was.

demoness, Hades says...
8:34pm Thu 29 Jul 10

The man is a ****.
This makes me so angry - how bloody dare he?

Plus ça change..., Wycombe says...
9:09pm Thu 29 Jul 10

How not to do it.

678, Marlow says...
9:29pm Thu 29 Jul 10

I would rather somebody who drives too fast living next to me than this fella!

balera, beaconsfield says...
9:31pm Thu 29 Jul 10

The true story of the dead cat.
This beatuful cat was killed on a residential road. A passing lorry driver stopped and removed the cat from the road where it would have been further mutilated by passing cars. Several people saw the cat but my friend collected a bag and together with another young man placed the cat in the bag, initially to protect passers -by and possibly the owner from seeing such an upsetting sight. He tried to identify the owner by calling at several houses on his road but eventually called the RSPCA who said they would scan the cat for a microchip.South Bucks District Council gave him permission to hang the bag on the fence from where it could easily be see by the RSPCA and also be collected. The bag was eventually collected much later in the afternoon.It's so unjust and judgemental of people to post such vitriolic comments assinating someone's character without knowing the full story. My friend realises that he was probably unwise to write the notice 'Speeding kills' on the bag but he was upset about the loss of someone's beloved pet. He is one of the nicest and kindest people in town and does not deserve to be villified in this way.Hopefully the owners of the poor cat will appreciate his actions for what they truly were, simple compassion.

skruffs, Totteridge says...
9:37pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Owned!!

demoness, Hades says...
9:59pm Thu 29 Jul 10

balera wrote:
The true story of the dead cat. This beatuful cat was killed on a residential road. A passing lorry driver stopped and removed the cat from the road where it would have been further mutilated by passing cars. Several people saw the cat but my friend collected a bag and together with another young man placed the cat in the bag, initially to protect passers -by and possibly the owner from seeing such an upsetting sight. He tried to identify the owner by calling at several houses on his road but eventually called the RSPCA who said they would scan the cat for a microchip.South Bucks District Council gave him permission to hang the bag on the fence from where it could easily be see by the RSPCA and also be collected. The bag was eventually collected much later in the afternoon.It's so unjust and judgemental of people to post such vitriolic comments assinating someone's character without knowing the full story. My friend realises that he was probably unwise to write the notice 'Speeding kills' on the bag but he was upset about the loss of someone's beloved pet. He is one of the nicest and kindest people in town and does not deserve to be villified in this way.Hopefully the owners of the poor cat will appreciate his actions for what they truly were, simple compassion.
There are always 2 sides. Please accept my apologies but we can only go on what the BFP tells us. I should have realised that the BFP went for sensationalism and not the truth. Shame on them.
I am very sorry.

erm, ermsville says...
10:10pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Writing on the bag and hanging it there was still totally insensitive and there is still no link to speeding!

john_b, Wycombe says...
11:06pm Thu 29 Jul 10

Is it wrong that I am laughing so hard right now?

I think it would have been far more appropriate to simply label the bag with 'Free Cat!'.

I am very sorry for the owner's loss - as a cat lover myself, this is horrible - but rarely does a cat's death provide such entertainment as this!

hawkeye2010, High Wycombe says...
12:00am Fri 30 Jul 10

If only the man had taken the cat to the local vet and left it there!!! Our Cat who was hit by a car and killed back in june was found by a local lady who kindly took it to the nearest vet. Although we didnt use that vet we still thought to go in and ask when our cat had been missing for a number of days. The vets kept our cat (refrigerated) encase the owners eventually came to enquire. We now have closure. I can honestly say that if we had found our poor little cat in a plastic carrier bag hanging from a tree we would have been sickened to the core.

tigger the campaigner, beaconsfield says...
12:13am Fri 30 Jul 10

Oh dear poor Bob, a man trying to do good after a tragic accident has been wrongly vilified as Mr Nasty. Some of the comments made are ill judged and unfairly based on an article written to sell newspapers…. Thank goodness for Belera who was an eye witness to put us right, but as they say in media circles, never let the truth get in the way of a good story?

Judging by the number of comments, the BFP has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons with this article and I guess even Simon Bond will be now thinking of adding to his best seller “101 Uses for a Dead Cat” with a new chapter in the sequel “102 Uses for a Dead Cat”.

ferrellcat, the grass says...
3:23am Fri 30 Jul 10

balera wrote:
The true story of the dead cat. This beatuful cat was killed on a residential road. A passing lorry driver stopped and removed the cat from the road where it would have been further mutilated by passing cars. Several people saw the cat but my friend collected a bag and together with another young man placed the cat in the bag, initially to protect passers -by and possibly the owner from seeing such an upsetting sight. He tried to identify the owner by calling at several houses on his road but eventually called the RSPCA who said they would scan the cat for a microchip.South Bucks District Council gave him permission to hang the bag on the fence from where it could easily be see by the RSPCA and also be collected. The bag was eventually collected much later in the afternoon.It's so unjust and judgemental of people to post such vitriolic comments assinating someone's character without knowing the full story. My friend realises that he was probably unwise to write the notice 'Speeding kills' on the bag but he was upset about the loss of someone's beloved pet. He is one of the nicest and kindest people in town and does not deserve to be villified in this way.Hopefully the owners of the poor cat will appreciate his actions for what they truly were, simple compassion.
So who called the bfp, who called the rspca, who called sbdc, who called the police, who wrote on the bag, who said "the stark image would make drivers think twice"
This man is not as you write. He hung his campaign on an opportunity of self made publicity so dont turn it back on those that comment.The criticism is of his own making and deserved because no one else would have thought of such a crap publicity stunt

demoness, Hades says...
7:33am Fri 30 Jul 10

john_b wrote:
Is it wrong that I am laughing so hard right now? I think it would have been far more appropriate to simply label the bag with 'Free Cat!'. I am very sorry for the owner's loss - as a cat lover myself, this is horrible - but rarely does a cat's death provide such entertainment as this!
Yes it is wrong and please do not call yourself a cat lover.

It is not funny - that cat was someone's much loved friend and member of their family.
I am looking at my lovely cat now and had this happened to him I would have been devastated.
I think that although the guy obviously did have good intentions and I can see the logic behind the actions, it is a shame that he did not take the little creature to the vets.
But I suppose he did what he thought was right at the time.

struthie, Amersham says...
8:13am Fri 30 Jul 10

I would never put a dead cat in a bag,in fact I found a dead cat at the side of the road,called Bucks CC to pick him up and wrapped him in a towel until he was collected,I wouldn't dream of putting him in a bag it's a horrible thing to do.

Managed to find the owner thank goodness.

john_b, Wycombe says...
9:58am Fri 30 Jul 10

demoness - I am allowed to call myself a cat lover and still laugh at this story and all the comments.
Don't be so over sensitive and high and mighty.

iworld, High Wycombe says...
10:59am Fri 30 Jul 10

Cats usually freeze when they see a car approaching - it is difficult to prove it was killed due to speeding

Putting a dead cat in a bag and hanging it up on a tree to prove a point is very undignified. I am sure he could have proved his point by using another method

I am sure passers by will object to the smell of a decomposing cat

It is not speed that always kills - but the clutz behind the wheel and the roadworthy condition the vehicle is in

mashedpotato, wycombe says...
11:12am Fri 30 Jul 10

What a freak.

demoness, Hades says...
11:36am Fri 30 Jul 10

john_b wrote:
demoness - I am allowed to call myself a cat lover and still laugh at this story and all the comments. Don't be so over sensitive and high and mighty.
I will be what I like thank you. And no ,IMO no cat lover would laugh at this story.

Would you laugh if it was your cat???

Mutley, High Wycombe says...
11:56am Fri 30 Jul 10

Unfortunately cats, because they are allowed to roam freely, will run straight across the road without looking, and if a vehicle happens to be passing at that precise moment then the two are likely to collide and the poor cat will come of worse. The same happens to wild animals as well as can too often be witnessed. There's not much that can be done about it. You could argue that if the car had been going faster it would have been passed the point where the cat ran out and so would not have hit it.
I agree that the aftermath was not handled very sensitively.

Craig...., Coventry says...
1:43pm Fri 30 Jul 10

ferrellcat wrote:
balera wrote:
The true story of the dead cat. This beatuful cat was killed on a residential road. A passing lorry driver stopped and removed the cat from the road where it would have been further mutilated by passing cars. Several people saw the cat but my friend collected a bag and together with another young man placed the cat in the bag, initially to protect passers -by and possibly the owner from seeing such an upsetting sight. He tried to identify the owner by calling at several houses on his road but eventually called the RSPCA who said they would scan the cat for a microchip.South Bucks District Council gave him permission to hang the bag on the fence from where it could easily be see by the RSPCA and also be collected. The bag was eventually collected much later in the afternoon.It's so unjust and judgemental of people to post such vitriolic comments assinating someone's character without knowing the full story. My friend realises that he was probably unwise to write the notice 'Speeding kills' on the bag but he was upset about the loss of someone's beloved pet. He is one of the nicest and kindest people in town and does not deserve to be villified in this way.Hopefully the owners of the poor cat will appreciate his actions for what they truly were, simple compassion.
So who called the bfp, who called the rspca, who called sbdc, who called the police, who wrote on the bag, who said "the stark image would make drivers think twice"
This man is not as you write. He hung his campaign on an opportunity of self made publicity so dont turn it back on those that comment.The criticism is of his own making and deserved because no one else would have thought of such a crap publicity stunt
Spot on Ferrellcat. All thats going on here is some half-assed back tracking because Mr. Musk is now probably becoming worried about his personal safety.

Seems to me its not the BFP guilty on sensationalism this time.

I still maintain this is uttely disgraceful behaviour, and has nothing to do with the point he was trying to make.

I believe Mr Musk would also do well to do some reading and data analysis of his own on the subject of "Speed Kills" and not take the previous governments sensationalist propaganda at face value.

Maybe it's time to find a new bandwagon to jump on, I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to get your name in the paper.

cressexpert, Cressex says...
1:57pm Fri 30 Jul 10

You are all pussyfooting around the real situation!
Good job it was not a pedestrian!

john_b, Wycombe says...
2:08pm Fri 30 Jul 10

demoness - I would be upset if it were my cat... but I would find it hilarious if someone put my cat in a bag with 'Speeding Kills' on it, then prompting a ridiculous story and comments.
This is funny, no matter whose cat it is. Or if you like cats or not.
The fact a cat has died is upsetting, no matter whose cat it is... or if you like cats or not.

wayneo, bucks says...
8:37am Sat 31 Jul 10

http://www.theregist
er.co.uk/2010/07/29/
dft_speed_cam_incorr
ectness/

DfT 'unwittingly' bigged-up speed camera benefits

M40, Wycombe says...
2:51pm Sat 31 Jul 10

Was there a meooooooooooooow as the car went by?
If there was tha car may have been speeding.

Edcert, Terrick says...
9:19pm Sat 31 Jul 10

My cat Coco was knocked down by a car about three years ago. Any cat lover will know what I mean when I say that she was very much a part of our family. We were lucky. She was microchipped but also had an ID barrel on her collar. I was out at the time, but the lady who hit her made every effort to find me, (via ID barrel) not wanting to leave my dead cat on the doorstep. One of my neighbours rang me to tell me what had happened. I did not have the chance to thank the lady involved as she had to leave. I am so glad that she did not hang Coco in a carrier bag at the side of the road. Cats do not know or observe the highway code. The lady who hit Coco was not speeding. Who is to say that the peroson who hit this cat was. I appreciate that this man was trying to prove a point, but it is rather a sick way of doing it. The person who also hit this cat is a pig. Why not make an effort to return it to it's owners or ask around? It may have been an accident (within speed limits) but don't just leave a much loved pet in the road.

guesswork, Great Missenden/Prestwood says...
9:29pm Sun 1 Aug 10

How is this respectful to a dead animal?

I'm sure it used to be practice to hang travellers by the side of the road. As far as I understand they didn't need a reason to do this. A grim medieval punishment passed out with other forms of torture punishment as far as I understand

I can see the point they're trying to make. I'm rather sad they feel this is the only way they feel they can communicate their message effectively.

I hate cats, London says...
10:19am Mon 2 Aug 10

Since being told to read this article, I can’t stop laughing about the comments on the death of the kitty. But wait; surely we should be applauding the cat for its selfless suicidal sacrifice in making a point about speeding cars which are a problem in residential roads. Well done Capt. Bob for finding the bag with the cat’s last words and telling us about it. Maybe I should change my opinion of cats following Suicide Kitty’s bold protest to tell the world about the dangers on the road and getting everyone so uptight. Naturally I look forward to reading the venomous comments directed to me, but consider this as you write your rancorous words, what if this had been a young child hit by a car.

mo-at-hw, High Wycombe says...
7:03pm Wed 4 Aug 10

boups1984@hotmail.co
m
wrote:
My beloved cat was hit and killed 2 months ago. I understand his reasons because to stop speeding, but if the woman that found my cat had put her in a bag to warn other drivers, rather than take her to the vet like she did, I would have been extremely upset!
Exactly, another reason with what's wrong about this to be added to the rather large list in my head.

Comments are closed on this article.

Animal lover puts dead cat in bag to warn of speeding Animal lover puts dead cat in bag to warn of speeding

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