A couple have been left heartbroken after one of their pet cats was run over and killed by a driver who did not stop in Netherfield. Harlee Lowish, 26, who lives on Ashwell Street with wife Mags Lowish, 39, owned pet cat Samson, who was two-and-a-half-years-old.
The ginger tabby, who was a feral rescue kitten, ran away from home and over the bridge on Chaworth Road above Netherfield train station on Wednesday (June 8) evening after being spooked by some fireworks that were let off nearby, says Harlee. She says Samson was walking back across the bridge and towards home at around 7am the following morning (Thursday, June 9) when tragedy struck.
Harlee was called by a motorist to say that Samson had been hit by a car. Harlee says the woman that called her was following the car in front that hit Samson and sped off, and that she stopped at the side of the road to put Samson on the pavement and covered him in a blanket. She called Harlee after seeing her number on Samson's collar.
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But within a minute from the impact, Samson had died. Harlee said she ran out of the house and up to the bridge "in shock and disbelief" when she received the call.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Harlee said: "I just went into adrenaline mode, you go up there and just want it to not be true. I couldn't believe it was our cat.
"We rushed straight up the bridge, and there was blood all over the road. It's just devastating, I know some don't get it if they're not animal lovers, but he was our cat, it's broken our hearts.
"The pain of losing such a loved animal is like losing a family member. The driver hit a cat that weighs 5kg, they must have known they had done something, it's just terrible.
"Samson was just the most sweet, loving, kind and gentle cat. He was always around and was so loved, but he was equally so giving.
"It feels so unfair. How could the driver just carry on and not care? I'd have done everything I could to save it."
Under the Road Traffic Act, motorists are not legally required to report running over a cat.
Harlee runs a dog day care called Ruffles Nottingham near Sneinton with wife Mags. Another one of their cats, Delilah, died around three months ago, but the couple have two other cats, called Florence and Bruce.
The couple have had Bruce since he was a kitten. Florence joined shortly after Delilah died, as Samson was pining for a friend, says Harlee.
Harlee has received comments of support in abundance after posting about what happened on Facebook. She has been touched by the response of her local community, and wants something to come of Samson's death.
Harlee said: "It's been nice to have the support from the community. After posting about what happened on local Facebook groups, I couldn't believe how many people commented.
"People just fly over that bridge, I've seen it myself, and coming from the Colwick direction, it is a bit of a blind corner, it's a rubbish road. It's a very busy area, and one of our neighbours' daughter crosses that bridge to go to school.
"It was a cat in this case, but I'm worried it could be a child going forward, god forbid it's anything more than an animal. I'd like to see some sort of sign before the bridge saying that there could be pedestrians ahead, to make drivers think before they fly around the bend."
Nottinghamshire County Council has been approached for comment about potential safety measures at the bridge.
