The Traffic Problem Is Worse Than You Think
India does not have a reliable national database of pet road casualties, but veterinary clinic data from cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune tells a consistent story: cats presenting with traumatic injuries, fractured pelvis, internal bleeding, crushed limbs, are overwhelmingly outdoor animals hit by two-wheelers and autorickshaws. The injuries cluster at night, when cats are most active and visibility is lowest. A 2019 study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery found that outdoor cats in urban environments face a mortality risk from road traffic roughly four to six times higher than indoor cats. Indian urban traffic adds specific hazards that study did not even account for: unmarked speed breakers, vehicles reversing without warning in narrow lanes, and the sheer density of two-wheelers that travel quietly enough to give a cat no auditory warning before impact.
