A family left “devastated” after another one of their cats was mowed down in a hit-and-run have called for speeding restrictions to be put in place along a street.

Danela Barrett was at her home in Cooks Lane, Sittingbourne, when her wife, Carla, 41, found their feline friend, Monty, bleeding in the middle of the road.

The eight-month-old ginger cat was owned by the couple and their nine-year-old daughter, Boe, and lived with them at the family home of two years.

Nobody has yet come forward and claimed responsibility for Monty’s death.

He was one of four cats living at the family home in Milton Regis.

The 50-year-old told KentOnline: “Carla and Boe were driving home on Friday (July 28) when a lady stopped to say a cat had been hit.

“She saw it was Monty and so Boe then called me screaming before I ran around the corner and he was just there.

“He was bleeding so much from his mouth and his neck was broken, so Boe was hysterical and remains so devastated.

“So we’re all in so much shock and trying to recover – Boe even had to go back to her other mum to escape the sadness while Carla and I haven’t stopped crying.

“Monty was so loving and would purr so loud people could hear him from across the room, and he was extremely close with his brother Ozzy.

“So what’s happened has just left a massive hole.”

It is the second cat which the family has lost since moving, after their feline friend Rosie was also mowed down outside the same house two years ago.

The retail worker says speeding restrictions need to be put in place to stop “idiots” killing more animals in the future.

She also worries about the safety of children, given that Milton Court Primary is just metres away in Brewery Road.

“Rosie was our other cat who got hit by another heartless driver and left her in the road,” Danela added.

“A caring lady picked her up and took her to the vets and they contacted us to say she had died.

“So we have now requested an e-petition to Swale council to get speed humps.

“The problem is people use it as a cut through to get to the high street and feel the need to speed unnecessarily.

“But people don’t understand how important cats are to people.

“They are not objects or feral – they are much-loved members of the family.

“One of our neighbours also lost a cat for the same reason in Hall Close recently because of these idiots.

“We often hear cars speeding at night, so one day it will be a child.

“I still can’t drive past where he was left because it is just so sad.”

It is not the first cat to have succumbed to terrible injuries in Sittingbourne this summer.

Sonia Primett, from Newington, received a knock on the door from a neighbour in May giving her the news that their one-year-old pet, Poppy, was lying in nearby woods.

Her family were told she had died following at least one gunshot to the head.

She is also believed to have suffered further traumas including being kicked more than 20 metres from where she was shot.

Under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a driver is required to stop and report accidents involving specific animals including dogs, but not cats. This requirement arises from their status as working animals rather than as domestic pets, even though many dogs are pets, not working animals.