A Bucksburn resident is campaigning for improved road safety on his street after one of his cats was killed and another seriously injured by speeding drivers.
Last month, Raymond Knight, 72, received an unpleasant visit from his neighbour who had found his cat, Willow, dead at the end of Colverfield Gardens.
And two years ago, another of his cats, Toffee, had to have its leg amputated after it was struck by a car on nearby street Kepplehills road.
The incident left the cat traumatised and Mr Kight having to fork out £700 in vets bills.
Raymond paid £700 in vet bills for his cat’s leg amputation. Just two years later, the cat’s kitten was killed by a car near his house. The street does currently have speed bumps installed, however, he believes they are not high enough to adequately reduce traffic speed.
He believes if the issue is not addressed the next time there is an accident it could be a child that is hit by a car, and not a cat.
He said: “Three weeks ago, the kitten of the first cat who was run down, was hit by a car and killed.
“She was killed instantly.
“The driver would of had to be going at some speed to kill her instantly.”
Mr Knight said Cloverfield Gardens, located behind Bucksburn Academy, was closed for maintenance some years ago.
But when the road reopened, the speed bumps had been reduced in size.
The road is situated near the junction of Inverurie Road and he stressed drivers fail to slow down after departing the busy A96.
The surrounding roads are all covered by a 20mph speed limit, but it is not always adhered to.
Speed bumps are an additional measure in place to try to reduce the number of speeding motorists. But Mr Knight claims the existing ones have been almost flushed into the road and no longer fulfil their purpose.
Aberdeen City Council, who is in charge of maintaining the road and installing speed bumps, said they have received no complaints and that Police Scotland does not consider animal deaths or injuries in their statistics for road incidents.
Mr Knight continued: “The road is just beside the school, and the speed bumps there already are so small.
“People come speeding down this road every day as if they’re still driving on the motorway.
“If someone was going that fast to kill my cat instantly, how long before a kid gets killed?”
Mr Knight said he contacted Aberdeen City Council to improve the speed bumps on the road, as he stresses they are too small and “don’t do enough”.
Aberdeen City Council acknowledged speed bumps were the responsibility of the council and said they are installed to a standard of height in relation to cross fall and camber of the road.
