Cat owner left heartbroken after her pet was knocked down and killed on New Year's Day

Heather Morris, the animal keeper at Gourock petting zoo, is devastated after her cat was left to die by a hit and run driver in Campbell Street.

The mum-of-two says her pet Milo suffered such horrific injuries that she believes that the car must have been travelling at speed.

She only found out what had happened after someone lifted Milo off the road and posted a message on Facebook.

Heather, 52, said: "It looked like a fast impact.

"It was probably someone trying to beat the lights.

"I've seen it so many times, cars on Brougham Street and Campbell Street travelling so fast and no-one stops them.

"This person drove off and left a wonderful family pet lying dead on the road with not a care in the world."

Heather, who lives on Brougham Street, had to carry her beloved cat home and then buried him in the garden.

She said: "The injuries he sustained, it doesn't look like a car going at a normal speed.

"His injuries were absolutely horrendous and there was blood all over the road.

"They didn't even give him the opportunity to survive. It could have been a kid."

Heather who lives with her husband David and their sons Sam, 19, and Andrew, 13, says the whole family is devastated.

She said: "We've had him since he was eleven weeks old and he was only a year and a half.

"We got him and his brother Harvey at the same time.

"It was heartbreaking when we brought him home, Harvey started to wash him."

She had also entered the cats in the Telegraph's Pet Idol competition.

Heather says that she has a harness and leash for Harvey now, as she is too frightened to allow him out on his own.

Heather said: "Milo was a big part of our family, he used to sit on my knee at night and I would clap him and if I stopped, he would tap my face.

"It was the same in the morning, he used to come into bed in the morning and tap your face.

"He was such a remarkable cat and so loving.

"I'm devastated."

Heather is now calling on the government to update legislation to bring cats into line with dogs as far as road accidents are concerned.

She said: "The current act came in in 1988, this is 2019, and laws need to be updated. Cats are the top pets in Britain along with dogs.

"We shouldn't dismiss deaths on the road of any kind. I keep wondering if the driver had stopped would Milo have had a chance.

"I keep reliving picking him up and bringing him home. It rips my heart out."