POLICE: THERE’S NO CAT RIPPER – IT WAS FOXES
But charity slams the claim
DISTRAUGHT pet owners were furious last night after police closed the case of the Croydon Cat Killer – and blamed hundreds of moggie deaths on foxes.
Officers have spent three years looking for a sick crook many owners believe killed their cats – but now claim the animals were not targeted by a puss-hating lunatic.
And they have shut down the probe, claiming the pets were most likely run over, then mutilated by feral foxes.
But Boudicca Rising, co-founder of charity South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty, said she is certain humans are responsible.
She said: “We have expert evidence to back this up. Over the last three years, we have discounted over 1,500 incidents as non-human related.”
A probe was launched in November 2015 after claims a culprit, also dubbed the M25 Cat Killer, was slaughtering pets. Headless bodies, some missing tails, were discovered across London and surrounding counties.
Families who lost their pets slammed the decision. Kayley West, 33, of Leigh, Essex, said: “We’d love to believe this was foxes but facts show otherwise. Clearly the police are at a dead end and it is easier to blame foxes.”
Samantha Glass found her daughter Tabitha’s pet Harley killed outside her house. She fumed: “There have been decapitated heads across London. The person who did this is still out there.”
Over 400 reports were collected during the probe, which deployed 15 officers deployed and prompted a £10,000 reward from animal activists.
Men Behaving Badly actor Martin Clunes wrote to police urging them to catch the culprit. He wrote: “Some cats were decapitated and dismembered. This is the stuff of nightmares.”
But Scotland Yard said: “No evidence of human involvement was found in any of the reported cases.”