KitKat (cat)

{{Infobox animal | image = Ofrenda for Kit Kat in San Francisco.jpg | caption = Ofrenda for KitKat outside Randa's Market | species = Felis catus | breed = Tabby cat | sex = Male | birth_date = {{Birth based on age at death|9|2025|10|28}} | death_date = {{Death date and given age|2025|10|28|9}} | death_place = Mission District, San Francisco, California, U.S. | death_cause = Hit by autonomous car | occupation = Bodega cat | years_active = ca. 2018–2025 | namedafter = Kit Kat candy bar }}

'''KitKat''' was a bodega cat from the Mission District of San Francisco who was killed by a Waymo car on October 27, 2025. Locals built altars and the death has raised comments about the safety of self-driving cars.

==Life== Mike Zeidan, the owner of Randa's Market, adopted KitKat as a stray to help keep rodents out of his store.<ref name="sf-standard">{{Cite news|title=Waymo allegedly kills cat at San Francisco store|date=2025-10-31|url=https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/28/waymo-kills-cat-san-francisco|work=The San Francisco Standard|first=George|last=Kelly}}</ref><ref name="sf-gate">{{cite news|last=Karoff|first=Timothy|date=2025-10-30|title=SF neighborhood mourns loss of bodega cat allegedly killed by Waymo|work=SFGate|url=https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/sf-neighborhood-mourns-cat-waymo-21127713.php}}</ref> KitKat lived in Randa's Market for six years<ref name="chronicle">{{cite news|last=Swan|first=Rachel|date=2025-11-05|title=How a cat named KitKat became San Francisco's latest symbol of anti-tech rage|work=San Francisco Chronicle|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/waymo-killed-cat-21138679.php}}</ref> and was well-loved by the neighborhood,<ref name="business-insider">{{cite news|last=Li|first=Katherine|title=San Francisco's Mission District is mourning an iconic bodega cat after it was run over by a Waymo|work=Business Insider|access-date=2025-11-16|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-mourns-iconic-bodega-cat-hit-by-a-waymo-2025-10}}</ref><ref name="wapo">{{cite news|last=Orellana Hernandez|first=Angie|date=2025-11-06|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/11/06/waymo-san-francisco-cat-death/|work=The Washington Post|title=Death of KitKat, a beloved San Francisco cat, reignites fury over robotaxis}}</ref> including an appearance on a shop cats map that went viral in 2022 as a "particularly friendly cat".<ref>{{cite news|last=Bartlett|first=Amanda|date=2020-12-10|title=Meet the corner store cats of San Francisco|work=SFGate|url=https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/beloved-corner-store-cats-of-san-francisco-15789259.php}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Vainshtein|first=Annie|date=2022-10-20|title=Do you know these felines? Map featuring the ‘store cats’ of San Francisco goes viral|work=San Francisco Chronicle|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/Do-you-know-these-felines-Map-featuring-the-17523396.php}}</ref> After KitKat arrived at the bodega, customers were said to come more often, and regularly brought the cat food and gifts.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last=Knight|first=Heather|date=2025-11-15|title=Waymo Was Thriving in San Francisco. Then One of Its Driverless Cars Killed a Cat|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/us/waymo-san-francisco-kit-kat.html}}</ref><ref name="sf-gate"/>

==Death== At around 11:40 pm on October 27, 2025, witnesses saw KitKat sitting in front of a stopped Waymo car for seven seconds. He walked under the car as the car pulled out, and the right rear tire ran over the back half of his body.<ref name='mission-local-accident-details'>{{Cite news|last=Palma|first=Oscar|date=2025-10-31|title=Waymo confirms its car killed KitKat, the Mission bodega cat|url=https://missionlocal.org/2025/10/waymo-confirms-its-car-killed-kitkat-mission-bodega-cat/|work=Mission Local}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first1=Oscar|last1=Palma|first2=Joe|last2=Eskenazi|date=2025-11-04|title=KitKat killing drives experts to say Waymo must come clean|work=Mission Local|url=https://missionlocal.org/2025/11/kitkat-killing-drives-experts-to-say-waymo-must-come-clean/}}</ref><ref name="nyt"/> A bartender who was taking a cigarette break used a sandwich board sign as a stretcher and took KitKat to an emergency animal clinic. An hour later, KitKat was pronounced dead.<ref name="nyt"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Palma|first=Oscar|date=2025-10-29|title=KitKat, liquor store mascot and '16th St. Ambassador,' killed—Allegedly by Waymo|work=Mission Local|url=https://missionlocal.org/2025/10/kitkat-mission-liquor-store-mascot-and-16th-st-ambassador-killed-on-monday/}}</ref> Waymo confirmed that the cat was killed by one of its vehicles on October 30.<ref name='mission-local-accident-details'/> Surveillance footage of the incident was released in December.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010560474/new-footage-shows-the-moment-a-waymo-killed-a-bodega-cat.html|work=The New York Times|first=Mimi|last=Dwyer|title=New Footage Shows the Moment a Waymo Killed a Bodega Cat|date=2025-12-05|access-date=2025-12-07}}</ref>

From Waymo's report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):<ref name=nhtsa/> {{blockquote|The Waymo AV was stopped next to the curb for a passenger pickup facing east on 16th Street. As the passengers were boarding the Waymo AV, a cat approached the Waymo AV from the southern sidewalk of 16th Street and sat in the roadway partially under the front right corner of the Waymo AV. A pedestrian approached the Waymo AV from the east on the southern sidewalk of 16th Street and began crouching near the front of the Waymo AV, stepping partially into the roadway, appearing to reach for the cat. As they did so, the cat moved farther from the sidewalk under the Waymo AV and the pedestrian stepped back onto the sidewalk. The Waymo AV then departed the pickup location and the rear right tire made contact with the cat. At the time of impact, the Waymo AV's Level 4 ADS was engaged in autonomous mode. Waymo later received notice that the cat did not survive. The passengers in the Waymo AV did not have seatbelts fastened at the time, having just boarded the Waymo AV.}}

Prior to KitKat's death, the NHTSA had logged 14 collisions between Waymo cars and animals, of which 5 were confirmed fatalities.<ref name=nhtsa>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting|title=Standing General Order on Crash Reporting|access-date=2025-12-15|publisher=NHTSA}} KitKat's death is report 30270-12070.</ref>

==Aftermath== After KitKat's death, an altar was created outside Randa's Market.<ref name="sf-standard"/><ref name="sf-gate"/> People left flowers, candles, cat food, written notes, and Kit Kat candy bars in the cat's honor.<ref name='mission-local-accident-details'/><ref>{{cite news|title=Beloved store cat in San Francisco's Mission District killed by Waymo|publisher=CBS News|access-date=2025-11-16|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/video/beloved-store-cat-in-san-franciscos-mission-district-killed-by-waymo/|date=2025-10-29}}</ref><ref name="rolling-stone">{{Cite news|last=Gibson|first=Mary Jane|date=2025-11-05|title=A Robotaxi Killed a Beloved Bodega Cat in San Francisco. People Are Pissed|work=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/waymo-cat-san-francisco-driverless-taxi-1235459761/}}</ref> A city worker took down the memorial for fire safety reasons, but neighbors built it again.<ref name="wapo"/>

Local supervisor Jackie Fielder held a rally called "Justice for KitKat" in support of a non-binding San Francisco resolution to shift decision-making about the operation of self-driving cars from the state to individual counties.<ref name="nyt"/><ref>{{cite news|date=2025-11-03|title=San Francisco supervisor to hold rally for cat killed by Waymo|publisher=KTVU|url=https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-francisco-supervisor-hold-rally-cat-killed-waymo}}</ref><ref name="dead-cat-waste">{{cite news|title=Never let a dead cat go to waste|date=2025-11-04|url=https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2025/11/04/never-let-dead-cat-go-waste/|work=The San Francisco Standard|first=Adam|last=Lashinsky}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Ha|first=Anthony|date=2025-11-16|title=Beloved SF cat's death fuels Waymo criticism|work=TechCrunch|url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/16/beloved-sf-cats-death-fuels-waymo-criticism/}}</ref><ref name="wapo"/><ref name="axios">{{Cite news|last=Lopez|first=Nadia|date=2025-11-05|title=Beloved Mission cat's death sparks call for local robotaxi oversight|work=Axios|url=https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2025/11/05/sf-mission-cat-killed-waymo-regulation}}</ref> Critics say that the resolution is performative because it is non-binding,<ref name="dead-cat-waste"/> that local control would make autonomous vehicle operation impractical,<ref name="axios"/> and that Waymo is still far less dangerous to animals than human drivers.<ref name="nyt"/><ref>{{cite news|date=2025-11-05|title=Letters: Supervisor's response to Waymo killing a cat is so typical of S.F. politics|work=San Francisco Chronicle|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/letterstotheeditor/article/waymo-cat-san-francisco-21138860.php}}</ref> Elon Musk commented that "many pets will be saved by autonomy".<ref>{{cite news|title=Elon Musk reacts to San Francisco cat being killed by Waymo driverless car|work=Newsweek|access-date=2025-11-16|url=https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-waymo-cat-kitkat-killed-san-franciso-automony-self-driving-cars-10971276|first=Marni Rose|last=McFall}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Vaziri|first=Aidin|date=2025-11-02|title=San Francisco mourns cat killed by Waymo self-driving car|work=San Francisco Chronicle|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/waymo-san-francisco-cat-21133505.php}}</ref>

There are multiple meme coins inspired by KitKat.<ref name="nyt"/>

==See also== * Death of Elaine Herzberg

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:2025 animal deaths Category:2025 in San Francisco Category:Waymo Category:Individual cats in the United States Category:Mission District, San Francisco Category:2025 controversies in the United States Category:Deaths caused by robots and artificial intelligence