Motorists who run over a cat with their vehicle will have to report the incident to police under a new law being proposed in Parliament.
The Cat Bill - a private member's bill introduced by Rehman Chishti MP - calls for a change to the Road Traffic Act (1998), which forces drivers to notify authorities when they hit certain animals, but not cats.
Campaign group Cats Matter has been spearheading the fight for a change in the law. It estimates that 230,000 cats are left to die "slowly and painfully" at roadside each year.
Co-founder Many Lowe said: "Our primary goal is to make cat deaths on the road reportable, so the cat gets the opportunity for vet treatment as soon as possible.
"It would save thousands of lives."
The campaigners also want councils to routinely scan animals found at the roadside for microchips so that owners can be notified if their pet is hit by a car, the BlackpoolGazette reports.
So far 50 councils across the UK have committed to scanning cats and notifying owners.
Currently, cats are not covered by regulations which require drivers to report collisions with animals, but campaigners want a change in the law.
The proposed law calls for a change to the Road Traffic Act (1988) making it a legal requirement that any driver involved in an accident resulting in injury or death to a cat must to stop and give information or report the accident to the police.
At the moment, the Act applies to dogs, horses, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys and mules but not deer, cats, badgers or foxes.
There are an estimated eight million pet cats in the UK and around 230,000 cats are killed as the result of a road traffic accident every year, according to the most recent statistics available, published by the insurer PetPlan in 2006.
