Through one of their policewomen acting as a spokesperson, it appears that the UK police want cat owners to purchase GPS tracking collars for their cats after a spate of cat poisonings in Swindon. It seems to me, that the police want indoor/outdoor, unsupervised domestic cats to wear GPS tracking collars because it will help them track down the people who poison cats by, for example, putting down antifreeze which is attractive to cats.
RELATED: Cat poison. Please don’t poison cats. It is very cruel and it is a crime which could land you in jail in the UK for up to five years! Think about that.
And I get that point. If the police investigating cat poisoning know exactly where the poisoned cats went over the past couple of days or last night then they will be in a better position to track down the poisoner as it is likely that the poisoner will simply put down poison in the area where they live or in their backyard. Imagine, if a cat is tracked to a specific backyard the police can start at that home.
The number one reason why nasty people poison outdoor cats is because they don’t like them in the area where they live. They want to remove them from the environs around their home.
In this instance, cat owners in Swindon have been asked to keep a closer eye on their pets and, as mentioned, consider purchasing a GPS tracking collar. We are told that four cats have been poisoned in Swindon recently. Let’s be clear, this is traumatic for both the cats and their owners.
For an owner to know that their cat died by poisoning is very difficult to process. It’s painful and, of course, it is deadly and they have lost a beloved companion.
The poisonings apparently occurred in the Blunsdon St Andrew area of the town. PCSO Danielle Hindmarsh said, “Please rest assured that we are taking these incidents incredibly seriously and we are appealing for anyone who has information to come forward. Cat owners should be vigilant about the animals were possible, and consider purchasing GPS collars to monitor the movements of their pets.”
The big problem with GPS collars
I guess you know what this is going to be. I think GPS collars are a great idea for cats allowed outside unsupervised but even on Amazon where the price of products is generally cheaper than anywhere else a GPS tracking collar for cats costs £44.99 p (not a great deal of money) but the problem is that you will pay a minimum £4.50 per month subscription “to cover service costs for the tracker’s built-in SIM card.
Purchasers can try a risk free 30-day money back guarantee trial. One great advantage with GPS tracking is that it has an unlimited range.
The added advantage, too, is that you will be able to see if your cat is going to places where there might be an added risk of injury. You will know if your cat is going into a neighbour’s garden which may upset the neighbour. It’s a very useful product but what puts me off big time is the monthly subscription, which just adds more outgoings to one’s budget at a time when budgets are being squeezed because of inflation and because of the very many other reasons in the UK caused by governmental, financial mismanagement I would argue.
Cat poisoning by antifreeze kills through terminal kidney disease
Separately, The Times reports that in an unrelated incident, a man was given a suspended prison sentence last year after he was found to have lured two cats into eating a ‘toxic substance’. Both cats died, one suffering kidney failure. I know for a fact that the usual cause of terminal kidney failure in cats by poisoning is due to poisoning by antifreeze.
RELATED: My two cats broke a snowglobe and both died within days from ethylene glycol (antifreeze) poisoning
My mother’s Burmese cat died of antifreeze poisoning. The cat suffered chronic kidney failure a clear sign of antifreeze poisoning.
RELATED: Urgently treating a cat poisoned by antifreeze
Tristan Paul Pearson of South Wales pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to protected animals. His eight-month sentence was suspended for 18 months. In this case, I’ve just read that two pots were discovered in a garden which contained tuna and the tuna had high concentrations of ethylene glycol which is toxic to cats. Ethylene glycol is used in antifreeze.
It appears that the man was annoyed with cats coming into his back garden and decided to kill them. A clear crime under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Postscript: in this instance the police appear to be committed to finding the criminal which may be due to the fact that it’s a police woman who probably likes cats who’s part of the investigative team. This level of commitment isn’t always present in the UK police force concerning animal cruelty.
