Snarl, which has been examining cat deaths thought to be linked to the infamous serial feline killer since 2015, said it had found a total of 500 animals, including foxes and rabbits, which had been mutilated in a similar way. However they now believe the murders were likely going on as far back as 2010.
"The majority of them are decapitations of heads, tails and paws - a few of them have been cut in half," Tony Jenkins, from the rescue centre said. "Typically there is no blood on the scene, so they are either killed somewhere else and then brought to the scene, or they are killed quickly with blunt force trauma and mutilated afterwards, which we have seen in many cases."
There had been previous cat mutilations in Hampshire, including Southampton and Fareham. Other areas include London - where the killings are suspected to have started - Manchester, Surrey, Berkshire, Birmingham, Brighton and Northamptonshire. The grisly spree originated in the South-East, incidents now seem to be nationwide. Mutilated bodies have been found as far north as Sheffield and Manchester. Others have been found in Portsmouth, Dover and Luton, Kent, The Isle of Wright, Wirral and Sheffield. The person behind the mutilations was originally dubbed the Croydon Cat Killer after striking within the Croydon and M25 area. They have been renamed the UK Animal Killer after spreading across the country and mutilating rabbits, guinea pigs and foxes as well as cats. South Norwood Animal Rescue Liberty (Snarl) says there are now around five murders a week.
"I read stories about a cat killer operating around the M25, a motorway that forms an outer ring road around London. I didn't think her own cats would be in danger in her home in St Leonards-on-Sea, 70 miles away on Britain's south coast... a neighbour came over to say he had found Scooter at 1am. She had been lying dead on the pavement outside his house. He thought she could have been hit by a car, even though there was never much traffic in their residential street. He had gone inside to find a blanket to cover the body. WHEN HE RETURNED IT HAD DISAPPEARED. He assumed foxes had taken it. But later that day another neighbour had also found my cat. This time the dead cat had been seen at 5.30am on the neighbour's front lawn. The pet had been laid out as if she was stretching, except her tail had been removed with a clean cut and she had been sliced open from head to abdomen. I've never been jittery in my entire life, and now he's messed up the tranquility we had."
The deaths are not limited to the UK and an influx of missing pets is usually in a cluster.
“When I began posting on Facebook Cats of Durban about my cat, several people began messaging me and telling me their stories - about how they had also lost their cats and how their cats also never used to wander around the neighbourhood much, this time last year there were similar incidents of cats going missing in the Durban North and Glenwood areas. We are at a loss to explain this phenomenon, almost daily there was a report of a cat missing, we do not know the reason behind these disappearances
A woman in the Uptown area of New Orleans found a decapitated cat in her neighborhood. The director of the Humane Society of Louisiana said this is a COMMON PRACTICE AROUND THE WORLD. On Friday morning, the woman was walking through her neighborhood and saw the head of a black and white cat on the sidewalk near Eleonre and Coliseum. She walked around the vicinity, trying to find any other remains of the cat, but she could not. There were only a few drops of blood under the cat's head, but no torso or tufts of hair near the cat that would indicate a struggle. It appeared that the cat's head had been deliberately severed with a sharp instrument and placed where others could see it.
"We have investigated and received multiple reports of domestic cats found SURGICALLY CUT IN HALF, and it is a crime that has been documented ACROSS THE COUNTRY.”
SNARL Facebook Comments
- I had no idea of this until I had lost my own cat and started using Facebook lost and found pages. Weird thing is though, there have been many pet abductions and so many cats have gone missing all at once lately so I was starting to think there was more to it before reading about this particular one. I can't believe how many cats are strangely disappearing. Four just from my street in fact. So many others in surrounding areas too. I live in Barry, vale of Glamorgan. There has been reports in my area of a man, I think alone, in a white van going around door to door posing as selling mattresses just to note if the home has a dog inside and then later going back and throwing food to them when they are out in their gardens. The food is preloaded with a sedative which aids this man to steal the dog and get it into his van. Another horrific incident in Swansea, a man, also alone, broke into someone's house and stole multiple dogs, one was due to give birth, another dog and also a full litter of puppies but left the mum behind. Sadly, there was a poor pregnant dog of the same breed as the stolen one found somewhere in a bin inside a child's play area. The newest one I've seen was in Port Talbot where two young lads had broken in to a cat rehoming centre and all the elderly cats they had in that particular section were missing along with one large cage. Unfortunately one of the cats was found dead in a nearby lane. I'm not 100% sure if any of this stuff is connected in any way but I was thinking, are all these body parts etc all from cats that resided in the places they were all found? Or could it be that they are taken from anywhere and scattered at random places as well as targeted ones?
- I thought that my beloved cat that I had had for 18 years had been attacked & half eaten by foxes.But my son recognised that he may have been a victim of the cat killer! His head, front paws & tail were missing and nowhere to be found! He was missing for four days, then suddenly his remains where left on the lawn, in full view from the house! This sick evil bastard needs to be stopped, he has now killed over 200 !!!!!!!
- On 23 July 2015 I came home from work at 2pm and as I walked up my garden path I saw a dead kitten (approximately 3-4 months old black/tortoiseshell). It had been beheaded, it was very traumatic for me and I had to get my neighbour to remove it as I just couldn't have done it myself. It was the way it had been positioned like it was sleeping which I found very suspicious and there was no signs of blood anywhere. When I told other people about it they said it was more than likely that a dog or fox had killed it so I convinced myself that was how the poor creature had perished, even though I still had a sneaking position this was done by someone (not an animal) as there was no other signs of injury. Whoever killed the kitten obviously though it lived at my house as I had seen it in my garden before, it must have belonged to someone local.
- It’s more than likely these cats that are being targeted are of a friendly nature as they are the ones that will want you to stroke or pet them (making it easy for the person to snatch them). I have now noticed that other cats I used to see before have disappeared and I hope they have not fallen prey to this persons sick and twisted fantasies.
- I have read that the sicko is luring the victims by feeding chicken, but I still don't see how they are catching them!
- We have also had cases of that down here in Eastbourne going back 5 yrs , and as far as I know nobody has been caught for it. even now cats are going missing but, we cant say there being taken or wandering off but the numbers are getting higher.. and to go with it. we don't know who or why!
- Still feel guilty because she was in garden at 9.30 let her stay out a little longer cos she had a mouse..10.30 didnt return. Found a week later head and tail missing in another road.
- I know someone that found a cats leg in their Garden- Guildford she didnt find the rest of it, but I dont think it would have lived through that.
- Some of the feral cats that Ive been feeding for three years have disappeared.
- I've just looked back on posts over the last few days & bloody hell he's getting about. Seems more than one a day in all areas not local to each other! How on earth is he doing it at this rate I'm not even convinced he has a job anymore.
- How do they know which house the cat actually lives at if its someone who travels?, it could be a cat killing network of people who are in contact with each other. The mind boggles
- I hate to sound like the "crazy guy" on this thread, but I feel obliged to inform your community that the pattern of bloodless, severed animal mutilations is part of a wide spread global phenomenon that dates back decades, if not hundreds of years, and is well documented by investigator Linda Moulton Howe. Regardless of whether or not you agree with her conclusions, the research she has done on this is top notch, and she has been extremely helpful to local law enforcement. Meanwhile, the town of Denton Texas in the US is also currently experiencing the EXACT same phenomena.
- Two of my cats have come home with massive clean cuts on their legs needing deep stitches.When he came back he was limping, he was covered in faeces and he was absolutely terrified, his whiskers had been burned, there was a large chunk of fur that seemed to have been ripped out and when I took him to the vets they said it looked like he had been kicked around like a football. Other group members had been forced to put their cat down after returning with serious injuries. One owner lost all three of his pets in a single week."
- My cat disappeared at around 1am and I heard her screams outside. She was gone by the time I opened my door.
Operation Takahe now boasts a dedicated team of Scotland Yard detectives and there is a £10,000 reward on offer for the killer’s arrest and conviction. We encourage owners to try and keep their cats inside overnight. The Operation Takahe team can be contacted on (UK) 020 8649 0216 or Snarl on 07961 030064.
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Sources
- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-44452249
- https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/947716/croydon-cat-killer-targets-young-girls-pet
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5693109/The-Croydon-Cat-Killer-mutilated-400-England-started-butchering-pets.html
- https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/animal-campaigners-hunting-the-croydon-cat-killer-reveal-telltale-signs-of-murderer-targeting-pets-a3833576.html
- https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/mystery-as-durban-cats-go-missing-15360351
- https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-41595585
- http://m.fox8live.com/wvuefox8/db_354681/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=28hWvTIe
- https://northglennews.co.za/134123/disappearing-cats-concern-durban-north-community/
- http://www.enigmaticearth.com/2016/09/it-comes-to-your-door.html#.WyHJGIozaUk
- https://video.vice.com/en_uk/video/vice-to-catch-a-cat-killer/5aa29907f1cdb35416495501?ref=vice