Shocked owner certain pet cat was poisoned

Laurence Beattie’s son found a male cat dead in the back garden of the family home at Traherne Gardens on Sunday January 29.

Concerned for one of his own pet cats, Alfie, who had not been seen since the night before, he went looking for the 18-month-old cat and found him dead on a neighbour’s driveway, just a few homes from his own.

Alfie, an almost all black cat, had been with the family since he was a kitten with he and his sister, Molly, having been adopted from a litter from a family friend’s cat.

Laurence, who had been on holiday with his wife at the time, spoke of his shock at hearing the news.

“Obviously it was very upsetting and very annoying,” he said. “That anyone could deliberately do that to a perfectly healthy and fit animal that was doing them no harm and was kept perfectly legally; I can’t get over that.”

Police are now appealing for information following the two cases of suspected poisoning.

In a statement, police said a vet has examined the animals and believes both were poisoned, however, they are awaiting the results of toxicology reports to confirm, and to identify the possible poison.

Laurence continued: “We were away for the weekend and my son brought the dog over to his home. He went to feed the cats at teatime and Alfie hadn’t appeared, but that wasn’t altogether unusual. On Sunday he found a dead cat in the garden and went looking for Alfie. He found him three or four doors down, dead in the driveway and he was in quite a state, he hadn’t had too pleasant an end.”

Laurence said he believes the poison in both cats was active and could have posed harm to other animals or curious children.

“A child or another animal could have been in some state if they had touched it,” he said. “I am from a scientific background and it is perfectly obvious that the two cats died the same way at the same time; it is not natural.”

The local man explained that Alfie is much-missed by the family, and particularly his sister Molly.

“We have his sister too, and she’s missing him terribly. They were great buddies and always played together. Every night when I would take the dog for a walk they came with me.”

Laurence said he cannot think of any reason why anyone would want to deliberately poison the cats, saying there had been no unpleasantness, but that having spoken to local people since the incident, he believes cats have been disappearing for some time.

“We had a previous cat five or six years ago that disappeared and we didn’t think anything of it, but it seems the same thing has been happening with cats going missing over a number of years.”

Laurence added; “My wife and I are both very upset. Alfie was a lovely cat, he was beautiful looking, almost completely black but for a few white hairs on his chest. He had a lovely temperament. It’s difficult to believe that a nice, fit, young animal like that is gone and that somebody could deliberately do them harm.

“I am hoping the person who did it might feel some sort of remorse and that by speaking it might help prevent this happening to some other poor animal.”

Police are keen to establish if the suspected poisoning was deliberate or accidental and are appealing for information. Anyone who, for any reason, laid a poison or anyone who noticed animal food or unusual substances in Traherne Gardens or surrounding area over the last weekend in January is asked to get in touch on 0845 600 8000.

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