The Story of the Friendly Bus Stop Cat Is Depressing

There are too many people who enjoy gratuitous violence and then indulge in this habit by hurting cats. It happens quite a lot in the UK but did it happen in this instance?

The cat’s name was Missy. She was known to be incredibly friendly. She was known to like company and as a result she spent a lot of time at a local bus stop. She’d curl up on the bus stop’s bench. The bus drivers got to know her and so did the travellers on that particular route. People would stroke her. They found her presence to be pleasant and it would make their journey a little bit better.

A bus driver who knew this cat wrote on her extremely sad passing at the hand of a thug: “Thank you for lifting my spirits every time I stopped my bus. You always made me smile”.

Yes, it is believed that Missy was killed by a thug or thugs while waiting at the bus stop. Despite becoming a feature of this bus stop, somehow, invisibly as no one saw it, she was kicked and abused violently to such an extent that she had to be put down because she had lost all her teeth, had a fractured skull and a broken jaw. There was damage behind her eye and the veterinarian reluctantly decided to euthanise her. How sad is this?

If someone did this they should be caught but I doubt whether he will be. They very rarely are in the UK. The police are often disinterested in this sort of animal abuse and the police spokeswoman’s remarks indicate a lack of sensitivity in my opinion. She referred to the abuse as “criminal damage” which it is in law but it is far more than straight criminal damage.

Anyone who has information about this incident which took place between 28 – 29th January 2016 should telephone the police on 101 quoting 44160045690. The incident took place in Havant, Hampshire, UK. The cat is a red tabby. She has white fur on her face. Therefore she is in fact a tabby-and-white. She was 13 years of age when she was killed.

An Alternative Scenario

Now for the more practical issues surrounding this very sad tale. The owner of this charming cat has, in my opinion been irresponsible and I hate to say that. If I knew that my cat was going to a bus stop where there’s bound to be traffic very nearby then I would stop it happening and any responsible cat owner would do likewise. Is not enough to simply say that your cat likes to be outside and likes to meet people. Missy could well have been hit by a car having wandered onto the road.

The owner is Richard McCormick. He says that he noticed Missy was bleeding from the mouth when she returned home. He took her to the vet and, as mentioned, she was then euthanised. Richard McCormick says that his cat was always at the bus stop. He knew exactly what was going on. He thinks that somebody kicked her and says that it “isn’t very nice thing to do”. Personally, I would use stronger words than that. If it happened it’d a disgusting thing to do.

McCormick says that “Missy loved the attention and was so friendly towards people who were waiting for the bus-I’m sure people liked stroking her as they waited.”

Tributes have poured in on social media about Missy and a fundraising page has been created to enable a plaque to be erected. Missy had lived with McCormick for about nine years. Naturally, McCormick is extremely distressed but I have to say in all honesty that to certain extent he is the author of his own distress and the death of his cat. I don’t want to be harsh on this person but it is ridiculous to allow your cat to sit at the bus stop day in day out with traffic only a few yards away. I’m surprised his cat was not run over…..she may well have been. We don’t know.