Charismatic cat to be remembered with sculpture in city street - Susan Dalgety

Jane Rutherford with her cat Hugo.

But on the whole, Bathgate-born Star does not live up to his name, except in our eyes of course – unlike Hugo, the handsome Arabian Mau cat of West End fame.

Hugo was tragically killed two years ago by a hit and run driver, and now residents have commissioned sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot to make a life-size sculpture of him for a wall on William Street.

Beattie Herriot compares Hugo, who was famous locally for his curious and friendly nature, to another Edinburgh animal legend.

He told the Scotsman: “In a way, Hugo was a bit like Greyfriars Bobby. Although Bobby’s owner died and the story is a little different, he was known in the neighbourhood and the neighbourhood looked after Hugo.”

But not even the good folk of the West End could save Hugo from a road traffic accident.

I have my heart in my mouth every time Star is more than ten minutes late coming home for his tea, and he only goes as far as the back green three tenements down.

If he doesn’t immediately respond to our calls, I imagine he has gone through the hole in the hedge and been hit by a passing delivery van.

Cats may be glorious creatures, but they have no road sense and it is all too easy for them to be struck by accident.

Under the 1988 Road Traffic Act, a driver must report to the police if they hit a dog or indeed a goat or donkey, but not if the accident involves a cat. Moggies are classed as wild animals, along with foxes and rabbits.

Now, I know our Star can get a bit feral when he spots a mouse, but as a pampered pet, complete with insurance and a microchip, he is hardly a wild animal.

A statue of Hugo the cat is a great idea, but a change in the law would be an even better way to remember him.