Heartbroken rescuer calls for kindness after cat’s death

A dedicated animal rescuer from Seacroft is calling on motorists to show greater compassion on local roads after her beloved cat Bam Bam was left to die in a horrific hit-and-run incident. 

Maddison Partner, 23, was left devastated after watching CCTV footage showing Bam Bam being struck by four separate vehicles on Ramshead Approach. 

He had originally arrived at Maddison’s home as a stray that was afraid of people. 

Veterinary checks revealed the former stray had suffered severe past abuse, including a human kick to the head that nearly cost him an eye. 

“He turned up at my house as a stray cat, and he was terrified,” Maddison said, adding. “He was anorexic, and he was afraid of people and everything. It took him about a year to come around loving and trusting me, and then he’d follow me all over, almost like a dog.”

Yet, despite his painful past, Bam Bam blossomed into a well-loved local personality. 

“He was famous,” Maddison recalled. “Everyone everyone who walked past who lived around the area were always playing with him, stroking him, he was just so sweet.” 

Tragically, Bam Bam ran onto the road after spotting an unneutered male cat. CCTV captured an initial car striking him, followed by three more drivers who failed to help. 

“The first car couldn’t have helped it, but he didn’t stop, and he knew that his car had hit him,” Maddison explained, adding: “And then a second car was coming up the street, looked at him, it slowed down, that driver knew he was there trying to get up, looked at him struggling, and just drove off anyway.”

The footage then showed another car approach him and slow down before continuing past, according to Maddison.

She said a third car then drove over Bam Bam again, followed by a fourth.

While adult drivers ignored the injured animal, two teenage boys on electric bikes stepped in, staying by Bam Bam’s side until a fifth driver stopped to assist.

Maddison believes driver attitudes toward cats need to change.

“I’m just trying to make people understand that people treat cats like trash,” Maddison stated. “If that were a dog, it wouldn’t have happened that way, but to cats, it just happens all the time.

“If you’ve hit one, then at the very least, move them.”

However, Maddison does not want Bam Bam’s death to be remembered only for what happened to him.

Instead, she hopes his story will encourage people to think about how they respond when they see an animal injured in the road.

“I don’t want him to die for nothing,” she said, adding: “I  want to make people aware that they should care because it’s someone’s baby. These are not cats to me; they’re like a child.”

Despite stepping back from active rescue due to a heart condition, Maddison continues caring for a local colony of 13 cats. Her lifelong devotion to animals was inspired by her mother, who also cared for rescues. 

“I’ve loved animals from a really young age,” Maddison shared. “It’s not just cats. I love all animals, but I specialise in cats because of how bad it is.”

Her dedicated sanctuary extends far beyond cats. She routinely looks after hedgehogs, bats feeding in her apple trees, and even a rescued fox named Brambles.

Her main speciality however is working with cats which have become fearful of humans.

Of the 13 cats she takes care of, she said that while some will occasionally venture into her house, many prefer to remain outside.

“They don’t want to stay inside, no matter what you do, so I’ve given them insulated cabins,” she explained. 

She continues feeding the animals that she has already and gets help when another cat needs more support. Two new strays have recently arrived and Maddison plans to get them neutered before releasing them again.

Despite everything she has seen through years of helping animals, Bam Bam’s death has stayed with her.

For her, each animal she looks after has its own character, history and place within the community.

“Every cat that comes to me has some weird trait about them. They’re not just a cat,” she noted, adding: “That’s what I’m trying to make people understand. It’s like a family member.”

Maddison knows nothing can now change what happened to Bam Bam. But she hopes sharing his story might change what somebody does the next time they see an animal lying in the road.

And she wants people to remember Bam Bam as more than the cat she lost.

“He was just gorgeous. I don’t know how else to put it. He was amazing.”