Animal lovers

I took my lad out for a long walk in his buggy this afternoon (part of the rigorous “weight-loss” routine which isn't working much) and I happened across a dead cat on the pavement. I’m no pet detective but it seemed pretty obvious it had been hit by a car.

Of course, there’s nothing unusual about this. Indeed with the number of new houses sprouting up where I live, dead moggies at the side of the road are becoming increasingly common.

What did make this unusual was the bouquet of flowers that had been set beside it by the driver or some random passer by (I doubt them being placed by the owner since I’m pretty sure the cat would not have been left behind). Even more odd they’d been bought from a shop at least two miles distant (the label was still attached).

Now I suppose the possibility exists the person who left the flowers was carrying them at the time, but I think this is unlikely. So it seems the logical explanation of events is someone went four miles out of their way, in a car or on foot, to ease his/her conscience.

I’m a bit of a softie really. I’ll cry at anything - especially involving animals. Thinking about what must have been going through that person’s mind at the time, I welled up like a baby.

I read an interesting piece a couple of years ago that looked at some research carried out in a small American town whose name escapes me.

Apparently children who are cruel to animals (meeting the law’s definitions of animal cruelty) are eight times more likely to commit acts of violence against humans once they reach adulthood.