Life Is Not A Race, Please Slow Down

To the Editor:

This past Sunday, October 21, the second of our two cats was hit by a car in front of our home on Riverside Road. The first cat, hit two years ago, survived. Our second cat was killed.

While we wish these were isolated incidents, the fact is that they are not. Since we have lived here our neighbors across the street have lost a dog and three cats to speeding cars, and another cat, like ours, was hit but survived. That is six cats and a dog hit in one spot in the road that is straight and has good sight lines. Unfortunately, a straight road with good visibility seems to encourage people to speed, and more often than not, at least in our experience, the driver just keeps on going after striking an animal, as if it didn’t matter.

We have lost a cherished family member who was with us for ten years. To prevent this from happening again, either to us or our neighbors anywhere in town, we ask the following:

1. Please don’t speed on residential streets. The squirrel or opossum you hit may next time be someone’s pet…or someone’s child…so

2. Please stop when you see any animal crossing the road. All life is precious, and any of us, I’m sure, would rather err on the side of safety, just in case, in your haste, what you perceive to be a wild animal is indeed someone’s pet…or child.

3. If you do hit an animal, please stop to see if it can be saved. Even if it can’t be saved, most pets have identification on their collars. Pets are truly family members, and the owners would be grateful to know the fate of a missing pet, as we were when a caring neighbor brought our cat back to us.

Life is not a race. Please slow down. You’ll live longer, and so will our wildlife and our pets.

The Timmel Family

Carl & Bill

67 Riverside Road, Sandy Hook       October 23, 2001