Little Known About Law

This story was covered in the paper the last 2 days...

Now you know: You can't hit a cat and leave it
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
By Catie O'Toole Staff writer

A Pennellville man was charged Tuesday under a little known and rarely used law that makes it illegal to hit certain animals and drive off, leaving them to die. Drivers who strike and injure a cat, dog, horse or cow must stop and try and find the owner or a police, peace or judicial officer in the area, according to the state law. They also must "take any other reasonable and appropriate action so that the animal may have necessary attention," the law reads.

Aaron M. Fisher, 27, of 731 county Route 10, was charged about 2 a.m. with "leaving scene of injury to certain animals without reporting" after an Oswego County sheriff's deputy witnessed someone in a truck strike a black cat near Country Auto on Evans Road in Schroeppel. "The truck continued down the road and never stopped," the sheriff's report said. Deputies later found the truck parked outside a home in Palermo. They also found Fisher, who they said was driving the truck without a valid license when it hit and injured the cat. Fisher could not be reached for comment, but his girlfriend said this was just an accident. "He's a major cat lover. When I met him, he had three cats. He would never, ever harm an animal," Monica Parkhurst said. "He told me this morning he accidentally hit a cat." Parkhurst said neither she nor Fisher knew it was a crime to not stop after striking a cat. She also said the weather was bad early Tuesday. "I'm sure most people are not aware of the law," said Betsie Puffer, cruelty investigator at the CNY SPCA. "We don't get a lot of reports about it in this office."

A secretary at the Oswego County Sheriff's Department also said she can't remember a time when someone was charged with leaving the scene after hitting and injuring an animal.
"Most times people don't witness it," Puffer said. But if someone does hit an animal, the law says they must promptly report the accident. "If they do hit a dog or a cat or any animal, take every necessary precaution and take every reasonable avenue to locate the animal's owner. If they can't, let us know," Puffer said. "It could be someone's pet or someone's livelihood in the case of cattle or a horse. If an animal is injured, getting it help in a timely fashion would be necessary." Sheriff's deputies also charged Fisher with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, and unlicensed operator and unregistered motor vehicle, both traffic violations. He is scheduled to answer the charges Jan. 8 in Schroeppel Town Court....
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