Mother’s fury as family’s pet cat savaged by hunt hounds
A PET cat was mauled to death after a pack of hunt hounds ran amok near their kennels, sparking a police investigation.
The High Peak Hunt has ‘apologised unreservedly’ and promised to review its procedures after two-yearold Spider was ‘thrown around like a rag doll’.
Owner Rebecca Bingham accused the Peak District-based hunt of failing to keep the dogs under control and said her cat ‘ didn’t stand a chance’ after being surrounded by the 40strong pack.
The dogs spotted Spider on Tuesday while they were being exercised in fields ar ound t heir kennels near t he smallholding that Miss Bingham, 24, shares with her partner David Grant in Bakewell, Derbyshire.
Yesterday she said their 16-month-old son Benjamin cannot understand where his ‘best friend’ has gone.
Miss Bingham said: ‘We saw the hounds coming and couldn’t believe it when the dogs started running on to our land. It’s not the first time they’ve done it, but this time they
‘Threw her like a rag doll’
got the scent of the cats. They chased poor Spider under the car.
‘One of them dragged her out and then threw her around like a rag doll. I couldn’t look. David was telling the riders to get the dogs off. But by the time they did it was too late. She was gasping for air, and within a minute she had passed away.’
Miss Bingham, who is an assistant manager at a pet shop owned by her parents in the town, added: ‘We were livid and tried to contact the hunt, but that’s not as easy as it sounds.
‘When we did get in touch with someone they gave us a number to ring.
‘We spoke with this lady who, to be frank, could not really have cared less. She made a sort of halfhearted apology but said she wasn’t sure what they could do.’
The hunt’s reaction to the incident convinced the couple to involve the police, who yesterday took a statement from 24-year-old scrap metal merchant Mr Grant.
Miss Bingham said the couple bought Spider as a kitten when their son was a baby.
They also have two other cats, Marmalade and KitKat, as well as other semi-feral cats who live in an outbuilding on the smallholding and act as mousers and ratters.
‘Benjamin loved her,’ she added. ‘He would toddle around calling out “Bider”. He’s only just talking so he struggled to say it properly. Now he’s looking round for her, saying her name. It makes me cry when I see him looking for her.’ Miss Bingham said she had gone out to feed the cats in the outbuilding when the harriers came into view.
Recalling the moment the hound dragged Spider out from under the car and shook her, she added: ‘I’ve never seen anything so horrible in my entire life.’
A spokesman for High Peak Hunt said: ‘The hunt is aware of events that took place on Tuesday, December 29, while the hounds were being walked out in an area where they are routinely exercised without incident by the professional hunt staff.
‘The hunt has been in contact with the cat owner and apologised unreservedly for the distress this has caused.’
‘Incidents of this nature involving hounds are incredibly rare due to the professionalism with which the hounds are handled in kennels and throughout their lives.’
Derbyshire Police said: ‘Inquiries are being made by officers into the circumstances of the incident.’