Thugs blamed for vicious cat attack

A local man described the horrific scene when he came across the remains of a viciously savaged animal.

The man was walking along the path behind St Paul's Church, close to the Portadown Road when he found the bloody mess.

"It was a cat," he said, "It had obviously been torn in two while it was still alive.

"There was such a mess, there was a lot of blood, it was an awful state."

The man was so taken aback by the scene that he dealt with it himself.

"There would be a lot of children who would pass by where it was so I had to do something," he said.

"I took it away, cleared the mess and buried the body.

"I've been a slaughterman all my life so I'm used to seeing blood and handling dead animals."

The incident comes on the back of a number of live cat traps being found in the Shankill and Wakehurst areas recently.

Residents said teenagers and young adults were trapping the cats to use them to bait their dogs.

It was believed that the animals were mauled to death in nearby fields.

"This was no animal attack," added the man, "it was young ones, or maybe ones in their 20s who had done this.

"It's an absolute disgrace, but what can you do?"