If i run over a cat are the owners liable for any damage?

[Arguendo]

I’m not a big cat lover, but that doesn’t mean I want them to come to nor do them harm, the vast majority of cats if not most are not indigenous to the UK shores, they do cause vast amounts of damage to local wildlife, I know it’s natural instinct, but it can be quite distressing especially to young children watching a cat tear a bird to bits in your back garden.

 

Around the area I live, last year there were cats everywhere, it’s as if every house had to have a cat, however it seems nature with a little help from the, ban fox hunting have turned the tables, as such there appears to be an upsurge in foxes competing for food, last year & this year we have many occasions late at night heard cats being attacked by foxes, my wife last year witnessed 3-4 foxes actually surround a particular cat, even when she got out of the car, the foxes stood their ground, once she disappeared you could hear them pounce.

 

This has resulted in cats becoming quite scarce in the area, & I’ve noticed when talking to neighbours who have been victims of the upsurge in foxes & the loss of their cat, demanding that something be done about the Foxes, my usual reply is they are only doing what comes natural, they look at me as if I’ve just condoned a murder.