Around 15 primary school children are sitting on the bus that day, at about 1pm. They are cheerful because school is over for the day and they are heading home. At the wheel of the school bus is a 51-year-old man. But on this 26 October 2025, the peaceful journey in the town of Marktl in Bavaria, Germany, turns into a psychological drama!
Suddenly, two cats appear on the road. The driver honks his horn. One of the animals flees in a panic, but the other – a tiny kitten – freezes at the side of the road. What happens next is beyond belief!
Bus driver runs over a cat deliberately!
Instead of braking, the man steers deliberately towards the defenceless creature and utters a phrase that chills the children on the bus to the bone:
“We’re going to run this big beast over.”
At that exact moment, complete chaos breaks out on the bus. The schoolchildren understand immediately what is about to happen. They scream “Stop!” and beg the driver to stop. But the man ignores their desperate pleas coldly. A dull thud is heard.
A pure nightmare on the school bus
After turning the bus around, the shocked children try once more to convince the driver to stop and check on the injured animal. But the man's reaction is incredibly cruel. He completely ignores their pleas, choosing instead to mock the crying children.
In the end, he even turns up the radio to drown out their protests. He speeds away as if nothing had happened, leaving the seriously injured animal lying on the tarmac.
When the bus journey ends for the children that lunchtime, one little girl rushes home to her mother, completely distraught, trembling and in tears. By a sad but decisive twist of fate, her mother is a vet. As soon as she hears what has happened, she does not hesitate for a second. She jumps into her car and drives straight to the scene of the incident.
The kitten has to be euthanised
At the roadside, shortly after the incident, the vet discovers a horrific scene. A tiny kitten, weighing barely 1.7 pounds, is lying on its side. No blood is visible on the outside, but the animal's paws are still moving weakly – an agonising struggle for survival.
A few yards away, a second cat sits watching. It is likely the mother, who had to watch helplessly as her kitten was harmed.
The vet's examination reveals devastating news: the kitten's body is riddled with countless fractures. To end the little creature's brutal suffering immediately, the woman has no choice but to euthanise the animal right there at the roadside.
The verdict is in
Anger and shock over the incident linger in the local area for a whole week. But the bus driver has absolutely no intention of taking responsibility. Instead, he launches a cowardly cover-up, denying all allegations to his employer.
During a face-to-face meeting, he even goes so far as to paint the traumatised children as liars, claiming they merely have an “overactive imagination”. It is only because of this sheer impudence that the mother contacts the police.
The trial finally took place in June 2026. To spare the frightened children from having to give traumatic testimony in court, the driver eventually backed down. Through his lawyer, he let it be known that he regretted everything and that his comment had been in poor taste. He claimed he had not noticed running the kitten over.
But this web of lies does not save him from the consequences. The judge delivers a clear verdict, bringing justice for the injured cat. The 51-year-old man is sentenced to a ten-month prison sentence, suspended for three years. In addition, he loses his driving licence for three months and must pay a €1,500 fine to a child protection charity.
The verdict is final – but the shock of that October day will stay with the children for a long time to come.