Death brings out the best and the worst in human beings - and in just one day last week the ManxSPCA witnessed the full spectrum.

When staff arrived at work on Wednesday morning they found a carefully tied plastic bag containing a dead cat.

There was a lengthy, hand-written note attached to the bag explaining that the author had accidentally hit the cat with her car, and that the cat had then died in her arms.

She said that she had been advised by the police to bring the cat’s body to the ManxSPCA so that we could try to find his owner (which we did, later that day). She had done everything she could to help.

That afternoon, a member of the public brought in a black and white tom cat that he had just witnessed being run over on the main road in Foxdale.

The driver didn’t stop.

The cat had sustained massive internal injuries and sadly died half an hour later.

But the driver of the car that hit him clearly didn’t care and left the cat in the road to be hit by other cars.

It’s not illegal to accidentally hit a cat with your car, but surely it’s a moral crime not to stop and check that the animal is dead and then either move the body to the side of the road so that an owner can find it or, better still, bring the body to the ManxSPCA so that we can try to locate the owner?

Of course, if the poor creature isn’t dead then it will need immediate veterinary attention.

There is a growing body of opinion for there to be legislation in place relating to cats that are involved in road traffic accidents, as there is for dogs.

If you are involved in a collision with a dog you must stop and the police must be informed - it’s the law. And then you must stay at the scene until you are given permission by the police to leave.

This is the time of year when cats are most likely to be run over by a car.

The evenings are getting darker and drivers coming home from work can’t anticipate and react to a shadow at the side of the road running out in front of them. Cat and dog owners should consider investing in reflective collars for their pets to make them as visible as possible, and dog walkers should remember to wear high-visibility clothing.

This is also the time of year when we have lots of kittens in our cattery. Some are born in the cattery but most are feral or semi-feral and found in barns and outhouses. The cattery staff and volunteers work hard to socialise the semi-feral cats and kittens so that they can be rehomed as family pets, but the truly feral cats will be neutered/spayed and then returned to their original location, or placed in a new one with a guaranteed food source.

We brought in several semi-feral kittens, such as the ones pictured, and their mothers from the Maughold area last week, and once they have been health checked they will be available for adoption.

This is likely to be at the beginning of November and so they have been given names with a Bonfire Night theme - Catherine’s kittens are called Flare, Flash, Flame and Fawkes; and Bonnie’s are called Whizz, Bolt, Cracker and Sparkle.

If you would like to adopt a cat or a kitten please complete a ’home finder questionnaire’ (available from the cattery or on the adoption pages of the ManxSPCA’s website) and either bring it to the cattery or e-mail it to [email protected].