Villagers in fear as RSPCA says a big cat is on the loose

A BIG cat is stalking a small village where a number of pets have disappeared and others have been attacked, experts have confirmed.

Fears were raised for the safety of children and animals after five domestic cats went missing in a week – and a dog was attacked. Residents also claim poultry has been taken from an enclosure.

RSPCA experts took a plaster casts of a paw print in the village of Harrowbarrow in Cornwall and analysis confirmed it was left by a big cat.

James Stephenson raised the alarm after his dog was left bleeding in an attack last Thursday. He said: ‘Over the last couple of weeks we have seen this large black cat walking down the back wall of the field at the back of our garden.’

Mr Stephenson, 23, said he was in his garden with his Labrador Marley when the animal struck. ‘Marley was at the far end of the garden and I was about 20 feet from him.

‘He was suddenly taken down as if his legs had given way underneath him. He had a big deep gash on his front left leg. On his left shoulder was a big mark, as if a muddy claw had scraped down the side of him.’ Police were called and the RSPCA took plaster casts but Mr Stephenson, an engineer, then came face to face with the cat.

He said: ‘On Saturday night I saw two large green eyes in the torchlight at the bottom of the garden. It started to run towards me. I was close enough to the door to get back in. It was very scary.’

Police said the RSPCA confirmed the print was ‘the pad of a large cat’. Danny Bamping of the British Big Cats Society said: ‘There have been a lot of sightings in that area.’

Black panthers are simply leopards or jaguars that have much darker fur than is usual.