San Francisco has been mourning the death of KitKat, a beloved corner-store cat who died after being struck by a Waymo robotaxi last week.
KitKat graced the counters of Randa’s Market on 16th Street, near the historic Roxie Theater in the Mission District. KitKat was first introduced on the store’s Instagram page six years ago, quickly winning over the hearts of customers. He wasn’t a surly or suspicious cat — he could be seen playing with someone’s dangling hoodie drawstrings; snoozing in front of shelves with liquor bottles; inside a cardboard box marked with his name; greeting the neighborhood dogs; even dressing up as Santa Claus.
He shot to fame during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first year. Not only was he posted on the @bodegacatsofinstagram account (which now has more than 500,000 followers), but he also won a mention in a news story on beloved store cats. “The atmosphere in the store definitely changed after KitKat arrived,” Daniel Zeidan, the store owner’s son, told SFGate. Not only did he get treats from customers, but also “someone recently brought him a blanket so he would stay warm in the winter.”
More recently, he was caught curled up asleep on his own heating pad.
He even made appearances in the next-door bar, Dalva, where his arrival felt like “the president had arrived, making their rounds, shaking hands and charming everyone,” said one mourning Instagram commenter.
But he was fatally wounded around 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 27 just outside the market, Mission Local reported. Two witnesses, speaking anonymously, told the news outlet that they had just left Dalva and saw KitKat sitting in front of a stopped self-driving Waymo for about seven seconds. Then the cat walked under the vehicle, heading toward the sidewalk, as the car pulled away. The right rear tire ran over KitKat, the website said.
“It was an awful sight,” one of the witnesses told Mission Local.
Another person driving by saw the Waymo swerve and told Mission Local he thought the robotaxi was driving faster than he would expect a human would drive on a busy street. “Killed the neighborhoods baby,” a comment on the city’s 311 website said shortly after the collision.
A bartender from another nearby bar, Delirium, rushed KitKat to a veterinarian hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to Mission Local.
The cat was 9 years old, the San Francisco Standard reported.
“We’re heartbroken,” Randa’s Market said on Instagram. “He brought warmth, smiles, and comfort to everyone who walked through our doors…. The store won’t be the same without his little paws padding around.”
One mourner, responding to the post, called KitKat “the best city bodega cat anyone could ever ask for. His lil pet requests meant a lot for some of us passing through, whether we missed our own pet or just wanted to share some love with a neighbor.”
In a statement, Waymo said: “We reviewed this, and while our vehicle was stopped to pick up passengers, a nearby cat darted under our vehicle as it was pulling away.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we will be making a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor,” the statement said. “The trust and safety of the communities we serve is our highest priority.”
A Waymo has had a run-in with a pet before. News outlets in 2023 reported on a Waymo striking and killing a small off-leash dog in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood; in that case, a test driver was in the vehicle, but the car was in self-driving mode.
In one close call, a Waymo narrowly avoided running over a runaway dog in Santa Monica in May. An 8-year-old Labrador mix, Trevor, had escaped his owner’s yard and ran into the street in front of a Waymo, which braked suddenly, KCAL-TV reported. The station broadcast video of the near-collision. The dog was uninjured, and his owner praised the car’s quick action.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has received reports of 884 collisions involving autonomous vehicles dating to 2014.
Waymo, owned by Google’s parent, Alphabet, has been expanding its footprint across California. The robotaxis — electric Jaguar I-Paces — don’t use a human driver and can be hailed on an app in San Francisco and a swath of northern San Mateo County, including Daly City, San Bruno and Burlingame. They’re also available in parts of Silicon Valley and surrounding areas, including Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and Menlo Park.
In Los Angeles County, Waymos can be hailed across a portion of central L.A., South L.A., and the Westside, including downtown L.A., Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Inglewood.
The self-driving cars are also available in Phoenix.
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