How about being responsible pet owners instead of pushing the care of your pet onto someone else.

Recently there has been a meme on social media depicting a cat on top of a tire underneath a car. The caption talks about how its getting cold outside so we need to check our cars to make sure there aren't any cats up in them because cats like to be there to keep warm. There are a few things wrong with this meme:

1. Animals don't climb on top of the tires to stay warm. They crawl up inside by the engine because that is where its warm. Not the tires.  This meme is just trying to tug on the heartstrings of the gullible. 

2. If its your pet, it is YOUR responsibility to keep your pet away from my car. Why should I have to check for someone Else's pet when I get in my car? My car is parked on MY driveway on MY property. YOUR pet has no business being on MY property in the first place.

3. This ties in to point number 2. If you have a pet, it is YOUR responsibility to keep YOUR pet on YOUR property. Why would you let it wonder around on its own away from your property? I understand that sometimes pets get out. It is a shame when that happens. I know. I've had it happen to me. However, what are peoples excuse for their pet getting out when they don't take care of their pet? If they let the pet wander around lose with the gate open? Of course the pet is going to get out. 

I have neighbors who have cats. They let their cats roam around without any notice from their owners. These cats get in my yard all the time (don't believe me, come to my front door step and take a whiff). I'm not going to get down on the ground in the snow to check to make sure there is not a cat under my car.  If a cat gets in my car and I turn on my car, its a shame. I will feel bad for killing an animal. But this is not on my head. It is on the cat owners head. They were the ones careless enough to let their pet get out and wonder around on its own. Most of the time my neighbors don't even notice that their cat is in my yard. Then again, I see them outside smoking and their cat is in the middle of the street and they don't call it back. At that point I have to conclude that they are asking for someone to run over their cat.

Before anyone gets angry (am I too late for that? Probably)  I do hold the opposite as logical as well. If my pet got out of my yard and crawled up into someone Else's engine,I don't expect the car owner to check their car first, and if it kills my pet, I will be sad yes, but I understand that it is my fault for letting my pet get out in the first place. 

If you don't like the rules, DON'T HAVE A PET! Its as simple as that.