Failure to report cat struck by car
Pennellville, NY (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007
County: Oswego
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Aaron M. Fisher
A Pennellville man was charged Tuesday under a little known and rarely used law that makes it illegal to hit certain animals and drive off, leaving them to die.
Drivers who strike and injure a cat, dog, horse or cow must stop and try and find the owner or a police, peace or judicial officer in the area, according to the state law.
They also must "take any other reasonable and appropriate action so that the animal may have necessary attention," the law reads.
Aaron M. Fisher, 27, of 731 county Route 10, was charged about 2 a.m. with "leaving scene of injury to certain animals without reporting" after an Oswego County sheriff's deputy witnessed someone in a truck strike a black cat near Country Auto on Evans Road in Schroeppel.
"The truck continued down the road and never stopped," the sheriff's report said.
Deputies later found the truck parked outside a home in Palermo. They also found Fisher, who they said was driving the truck without a valid license when it hit and injured the cat.
Fisher could not be reached for comment, but his girlfriend said this was just an accident.
"He's a major cat lover. When I met him, he had three cats. He would never, ever harm an animal," Monica Parkhurst said. "He told me this morning he accidentally hit a cat."
Parkhurst said neither she nor Fisher knew it was a crime to not stop after striking a cat. She also said the weather was bad early Tuesday.
"I'm sure most people are not aware of the law," said Betsie Puffer, cruelty investigator at the CNY SPCA. "We don't get a lot of reports about it in this office."
A secretary at the Oswego County Sheriff's Department also said she can't remember a time when someone was charged with leaving the scene after hitting and injuring an animal.
"Most times people don't witness it," Puffer said.
But if someone does hit an animal, the law says they must promptly report the accident.
"If they do hit a dog or a cat or any animal, take every necessary precaution and take every reasonable avenue to locate the animal's owner. If they can't, let us know," Puffer said. "It could be someone's pet or someone's livelihood in the case of cattle or a horse. If an animal is injured, getting it help in a timely fashion would be necessary."
Judith Spicer, an animal rights activist from Parish, said she wishes more people knew about the law.
"It's sad to think a person can hit an animal and drive away, knowing the animal is suffering or dead, and it may belong to someone," she said. "It's just a shame."
Puffer agreed, but says people who let their cats and dogs roam are subjecting their pets to "every danger that's out there."
Even so, Puffer said, "certainly any person who strikes an animal, I would think wouldn't like it much if it were their animal. I would like to think they would be devastated. I would be."
Spicer said she thinks people either don't have the time to stop and help an animal they've just injured or they don't want to be bothered.
"It makes me feel very sad. Animals feel pain, hunger, thirst and cold. They have a beating heart," said Spicer, who's also past president of Oswego County Animal Welfare League.
"They feel the same kind of pain people do, but they can't express it," she said. "It's up to humans to look out for animals and protect them. We need to be their voice."
Sheriff's deputies also charged Fisher with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, and unlicensed operator and unregistered motor vehicle, both traffic violations. He is scheduled to answer the charges Jan. 8 in Schroeppel Town Court. References |
