France
Cat run over by train: Bahn has to pay compensation
The French railways have to pay compensation for a cat that was run over. photo
© Michel Euler/AP/dpa
The case had moved France: A cat escaped from a transport basket – and is suspected to be under a train. This drives off anyway, the animal dies. Now there is a verdict.
The fate of a cat hit by a train in a Paris train station France moves, now a court has ordered the French railway to pay compensation. The court in Paris found the SNCF guilty of negligence on Tuesday, as reported by broadcaster Europe 1. The railway has to pay the two owners of cat Neko 1000 euros each.
The cat had escaped a mother and her daughter from a transport basket before departure, both suspected the animal under the train. But the staff refused to stop the TGV at Paris-Montparnasse station. Later both discovered the dead animal between the tracks. The court president denounced that “the necessary human means were not used to retrieve the cat” before the train departed.
Animal welfare organizations had started a process after the incident earlier this year. A train will be stopped for a forgotten piece of luggage, but not for an animal, the animal rights activists explained in court. It was a deliberate and cruel act on the part of the railway. However, the SNCF emphasized that it was not at all clear where the cat was hiding. She was only spotted between the tracks when the train started. The owner had accused the railway of “lack of empathy” and that the SNCF had not answered any of her letters.