Are speeding motorists turning Victoria Road into a hazard for residents and their pets?
On October 25, Mark Staples found a distressed and injured cat outside his property on Victoria Road.
“I rushed the poor cat to the SPCA, but regrettably he had to be euthanised as his back was broken.”
Staples took to social media, sharing his sadness at the incident and told how his beloved cat had also been knocked down on the busy road three months previously.
“Victoria Road is notorious for speeding. As I live there, I often see and hear how people drive up and down the road, not stopping at the stop signs.”
With the loss of his cat and the cat he attempted to assist, Staples believed speed humps would be beneficial to the community’s safety in general.
“It will only take one car to lose control and for a child to get knocked over, but speed humps were not important until something bad happens,” he said.
As a number of pedestrians and school children used the road on a daily basis, Staples believed it was detrimental to have Victoria Road classified as a hotspot for speed monitoring.
“If the municipality cannot afford to put up a speed hump, maybe we can start a crowd fund and have it done. I don’t want anyone to lose another pet.”
Staples’ words were hardly cold, when a kitten was killed near Newcastle Inn on November 3.
Louis Nagel explained he was on his way to work after dropping his son off at school, when he saw a kitten lying on the side of the road.
“It was on its side and it lifted its one paw up, as though it was playing.”
As an animal lover, Nagel immediately stopped as he was concerned the kitten would be hurt.
“When I picked the kitten up, I felt a dampness and saw its back was badly hurt.”
He rushed to the vet and asked that it be assisted, as he was willing to pay for the medical costs. However, the kitten was euthanised due to its extensive injuries.
“What upsets me is that people knock down an animal, but don’t stop to check if the animal is okay. No one stopped for the kitten; it is like people don’t care and it was so small.”
Heather Gero of the SPCA encouraged motorists to slow down if they saw an animal on the street.
Read more in this week’s Newcastle Sun.
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