If you are a cat owner who has lost your cat and subsequently you are shown a security video of your cat being stolen it must be heartbreaking particularly if you believe that the thief used your cat to train dogs to catch rabbits at night. It is just awful. Here’s the video. This young man has done this before. Look how he puts his hand out first to check the cat is not aggressive. He then takes him by the scruff of the neck.
The cat concerned is very trusting. Too trusting in fact. It supports my liking for cats who are more cautious around strangers. The are safer. The cat’s name is Pepsi. He’s no longer young. He was owned by the current owner’s deceased father. Her father gave her Pepsi as at the time he was dying of cancer. Pepsi was an important family member.
“I was 12 when my dad died so a lot of the time when I wasn’t understanding what was happening, I’d have the cats with me. At the point when my dad was in a hospice bed dying, my mam would take Pepsi to see him and it was often the only normality he had.”
Let’s say that as usual Pepsi was a loved cat and a member of the family as mentioned which makes the video chilling in the casualness of the theft. It should be a warning to all cat owners to be vigilant and careful. It does call into question the laissez-faire attitude of many British cat owners and I am in no way criticising Pepsi’s owner. But domestic cats do simply disappear and here is an example of how it happens. It happens easily and quickly. Gone, never to be seen again.
How many cats disappear unreported? A huge number I would guess. The thieves know how easy it is to steal outside cats. They get away with it. This encourages them. So often I read comments from American visitors to PoC who correctly advise cat owners to keep their cats inside if they want to ensure their cat’s safety. There are monstrous people out there at night stealing, killing and poisoning wandering domestic cats. And I believe it is getting worse as the world become more competitive and hostile.
It surprises me how careless the British are with the safety of their cats. The vast majority (99%?) let their cats wander freely at anytime and the vast majority of cats survive but many thousands don’t causing a ton of heartache and soul-searching.
Actually Pepsi WAS an important and valued member of the family and he wasn’t sleeping he was sitting on his owner’s car enjoying the night air, he was 12 years old so his “sub-human” owners had cared for him well enough until some walking evil incarnate decided to steal him, there is no blame for the owners the only sub human in this sad story is the youth who took and ultimately killed him. I’d like to know what gives you the right to decide that someone is sub-human, you know nothing about this family.
Teary eyes here. Sending love to you at the Rainbow Bridge, Pepsi. Your soul is now free. You are blessed. 😢💜💜
What about the wild animals and birds in our country? Surely they should be safe from harm too? It’s not about the fact that cats have always had their freedom here, it’s the fact that there are more evil monsters around now who care nothing for any other living creature but themselves. How can you say ‘Brits’ are no more animal lovers than Americans when mutilating cats by amputating their toe ends as kittens is acceptable to some? When this has gone on for 60+ years and is still going on. Why aren’t the animal lovers out on the streets educating and campaigning to stop it? I’d rather live in a country where we fight for our animals welfare and against the abuse of them than a country where people let abuse by the very people trained to help animals, keep on crippling cats.
The RSPCA and the Police were immediately informed and apparently the monster and his cronies have been arrested. The woman is not allowed to name them or do anything to jeapordise the police investigation, but one thing for sure, justice will be dished out one way or another in the end. the cat lovers in that area will ensure that. We fight endless battles here for animal welfare here and abroad, but the evil surrounding us gets worse every day.
I see at least a half dozen dead pets on the paved roads here each week. Quite frankly I am no longer silently sympathetic to pet owners who let their animals roam at large. I also resent the idea that age somehow excuses ignorance.
I am not trying to vilify the guardian but I refuse to give a free pass either.
My cats are inside where the natural instincts of predators, animal and human are reduced to protect their lives.
I have had face to face fights with idiots who think declawing is acceptable.
Since my beloved little heartbeat Kitten was murdered by an incompetent veterinarian I know about casting stones and taking responsibility for real or imagined mistakes we made there. She is not out of business because I didn’t just whimper and post a story on FB or here. I made a real life crusade to make everyone aware not only of her but their lack of rights when their pets are victims.
I also had a small semi feral cat that I let stay outside ripped in half, not just killed but ripped in half in front of me by two large marauding dogs that just came running from around the corner of my home. I carry her death screams in my heart.
I hope this woman speaks for her cat as loudly and pushes endlessly for justice. Otherwise she’s simply one more person who makes sounds about loving animals but refuses to speak up.
This woman is an elderly grieving widow, an ordinary cat loving English person who had no idea of the cruel people there are around now. Many elderly people don’t have the internet, how are they to know how the world has changed, gone so rotten? Pepsi was 12 years old and had lived safely in that area all his life, we don’t punish cats for wanting to follow their natural instincts here, we don’t rattle coins or place scat mats to make them afraid to go near the door. Nor do we amputate their toe ends for convenience. Pepsi should not have been out in the night but nor should he have been grabbed from a car by a monster whose enjoyment in life is killing wild animals. The woman is suffering enough without people villifying her for not knowing what evil there is in the world now, for not having a cat enclosure, for not teaching her cat to walk on a leash like a dog. Well she’s learned her lesson in the worst way possible. Let him without sin cast the first stone!