French town puts out feelers to track down mystery cat poisoner

AN INQUIRY has been launched into the mysterious deaths of more than 200 cats at a seaside resort in the southwest of France, in what appears to be a mass poisoning.

Scores of animals, both strays and cats from good homes, have been found dead over the past six weeks in the resort of Saint-pierre-la-mer, most with mysteriously blue tongues. Their deaths have been blamed on everything from rat poison to cannabis.

In one small area near the beachfront some 50 lifeless felines were picked up in the past week alone.

“They were sicking up something blue; they were meowing and dying,” said Stéphanie, a local, whose cat Sylvestre, 10, was among the victims.

Nicolas Lombard, president of Saintpierre’s stray cat association, noted the presence of a deadly cocktail of “rat poison, lubricating oil or even cannabis”. The group said on Facebook it knew who the culprit was but lacked proof, calling on locals to provide information.