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That was exactly what I thought when I heard the news. There was also a case I read about last week, which said that a fox had entered a house, gone upstairs into the children's bedroom and attacked a little girl who was asleep. The mother said that it was lucky she had her baby downstairs with her as it would have been much more vulnerable. What they didn't explain was how the fox got into the house, upstairs and into the bedroom without mum knowing about it. Why would anyone leave their outside door open? And although the child apparently needed medical attention, the hospital was not identified and there was no statement from them. Every time they want to re-introduce fox hunting, there is suddenly a spate of attacks! For three years, they have been looking for a cat killer but now, suddenly it's a combination of road accidents and foxes! Don't believe it at all.
Our school is on the outskirts of town, despite having around 1,200 students, foxes have been brave enough to squeeze through open windows, they then freak out and attempt to attack us out of fear.

Lots of people leave outside doors/windows open, especially when it's warm. If a child receives medical attention the press can only publish location etc with the parents permission.
 
This is odd: recently there was reward money offered for information (quite a large sum) leading to an arrest? Not sure who offered the reward . . . think it was SNARL and another organisation. That was less than a year ago. And how does a cat find its way back home when it's been decapitated?
 
I know that sometimes a cat will make its way home after being hit by a car, and may then pass away in its own garden or on the doorstep. There it may be found a fox. This is a feasible possibility, but it still means the Police are not doing enough to prevent more cats being killed on the roads :(
 
I know that sometimes a cat will make its way home after being hit by a car, and may then pass away in its own garden or on the doorstep. There it may be found a fox. This is a feasible possibility, but it still means the Police are not doing enough to prevent more cats being killed on the roads :(
Without wishing this to become another 'in or out' debate, I'm afraid, the only people who can truly prevent cats from being killed on our roads are cat's owners themselves.

I've only just briefly read the news report regarding the alleged cause of the cat deaths in the Croydon area which sounds rather questionable at best given the high concentration of cat deaths in that particular area of England. I've also not had time to read the posts on this thread so I apologise if I'm repeating what has already been said.

No doubt there are those outlying cat deaths or some in the higher concentrated area which could be attributed to predatory behaviour but I find it rather odd that the majority of cat mutilations which appear concentrated in one particular area can all be attributed to such as foxes?

There are lots of cities in the UK with high concentrations of foxes, probably just as many or more than in the Croydon area but there are just not the reports of similar concentrations of cat mutilations which one would expect if it was all down to predatory causes, so I can't say I'm convinced by the latest report.

Most foxes will instinctively stay clear of strong healthy cats as cats can inflict very serious injuries so they won't risk a tussle with them in most instances. Most 'country' cats will more than likely come across foxes but you don't hear of many cats being taken and killed by them.
It must also be remembered that foxes in cities actually kill large numbers of rats which in certain cities I could mention, would be arguably overrun with them if not for foxes, so not everything Mr Fox does is all bad.
 
I know that sometimes a cat will make its way home after being hit by a car, and may then pass away in its own garden or on the doorstep. There it may be found a fox. This is a feasible possibility, but it still means the Police are not doing enough to prevent more cats being killed on the roads :(
Over 500 animals have been involved in this including a rabbit found beheaded in a locked hutch, numerous foxes and, I believe, a horse. It's not animals killing.
 
Over 500 animals have been involved in this including a rabbit found beheaded in a locked hutch, numerous foxes and, I believe, a horse. It's not animals killing.
Yeah..I highly doubt a fox killed a horse!

And since when do foxes have thumbs? They can't seriously believe foxes would unlock a hutch, cleanly kill the victim the same way as all the other victims, and lock the hutch again..Foxes eat their prey, they don't leave it behind or display the body parts in a disturbing way for the owners to see, and they hardly return the victims collar through the cat flap..
 
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I know that sometimes a cat will make its way home after being hit by a car, and may then pass away in its own garden or on the doorstep. There it may be found a fox. This is a feasible possibility, but it still means the Police are not doing enough to prevent more cats being killed on the roads :(
What are you suggesting the police should do to prevent cats being killed on the roads? I don't agree that these killings are all down to foxes or any other animal but if it is a person than giving them all this attention is surely not helping, and blaming the police for closing the case is a little unfair, blame the powers that be not the average copper.
 
What are you suggesting the police should do to prevent cats being killed on the roads? I don't agree that these killings are all down to foxes or any other animal but if it is a person than giving them all this attention is surely not helping, and blaming the police for closing the case is a little unfair, blame the powers that be not the average copper.
And blame the owners who let their cats out!
 
Of course it could be because the police think that publicity is spurring the perpetrator/s on....
SNARL have 100% disagreed with the Met's decision and will be campaigning to keep the operation open it seems. They have tons of evidence that, unless fox's grew thumbs, some of the animals have been surgically cut with knives. Don't breathe a sigh of relief just yet. From what SNARL have said, the Met are using foxes as an excuse to shut down the operation as it's been so tricky and long running.
https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/croydon-cat-killer-snarl-met-police-latest/
I can't quite believe it. Think police want to employ their forces elsewhere - not enough funding? Cats not important enough.
As soon as I heard the news I thought this ^^^^^

What's really annoying now is the media coverage trivialising the story and making a mockery of it.

At the end of the day an awful lot of cats have been killed in horrific circumstances and people seem to be laughing about it. Just watched Jeremy Vine on Ch 5 and it was all a bit of a joke which was upsetting.
 
What are you suggesting the police should do to prevent cats being killed on the roads? I don't agree that these killings are all down to foxes or any other animal but if it is a person than giving them all this attention is surely not helping, and blaming the police for closing the case is a little unfair, blame the powers that be not the average copper.
The Police could start by warning owners and drivers to be more vigilant with cats who are outdoors at night, rather than saying it's nothing to do with humans. It is the responsibility of humans, of course.

However I don't agree this is all done by foxes or other animals, when as someone has pointed out, a Fox was found killed and even a rabbit inside a locked hutch. There must be someone out there who knows what happened to those poor creatures :(
 
I don't care what the police say. I will still not be letting Misty out between dusk and 7am.
If it is a human cat killer, then this news will just spur him on to further killings. He won't take kindly to his crimes being swept under the carpet and forgotten.
There are far too many loose ends to convince me it is now safe.
Perhaps it's a ploy to bring him out then. That was my immediate thought. Make the announcement that the cases are closed, no one is watching any more, lure the creep out. Then I read the other posts and got more cynical, more likely to be they just don't want to be bothered?
 
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I have no doubt that some, likely the majority, of these cats were killed or scavenged by foxes who will usually eat the head of prey first.

I also have no doubt that some foxes view cats as fair game, despite people often saying that only very young/elderly cats are at risk of fox predation. When I lived on the London outskirts, an area similar to Croydon, I saw with my own eyes on two occasions foxes attack my cats in the garden at dusk just as I was calling them in for the night.

I believe the figure quoted was the loss of 400 cats over several years. Sadly, I think that is probably a credible figure for feline deaths (where not from natural causes) , in a densely populated area over that sort of time span.
 
BEWARE: Contains description of cruelty to animals

I find it all very puzzling. Luckily my Toby has always been an indoor cat so anyone would have to get through me first! My previous cat was allowed outdoors as we lived in a quieter area of Croydon. He was two when we found him whimpering under the sofa in the conservatory. It was around 5pm and still daylight. I crawled down to see what was the matter and he had like burn marks all up one of his back legs. We carefully wrapped him as he was shivering and took him to the vets. Her diagnosis, someone had burnt his leg using lighter fluid!!! My poor cat was given emergency treatment as he was in pain and going into shock. They kept him in to treat him. When we got home, we called the police and the vet gave them a statement. Apparently he was not the only victim. He survived but he was never quite the same again bless him. My son who was 10 at the time ran out with a tent pole and we had to restrain him from going to look for the b****** who had done this. You can never underestimate the depravity of some “humans”.
 
I have no doubt that some, likely the majority, of these cats were killed or scavenged by foxes who will usually eat the head of prey first.

I also have no doubt that some foxes view cats as fair game, despite people often saying that only very young/elderly cats are at risk of fox predation. When I lived on the London outskirts, an area similar to Croydon, I saw with my own eyes on two occasions foxes attack my cats in the garden at dusk just as I was calling them in for the night.

I believe the figure quoted was the loss of 400 cats over several years. Sadly, I think that is probably a credible figure for feline deaths (where not from natural causes) , in a densely populated area over that sort of time span.
If the foxes eat the head first, then that would not explain why many of the cats heads were separated from their bodies and relatively intact? I have no doubt that animal v animal fights happen and may account for some of the occurrences. But foxes do not take body parts as trophies and return them some time later to the vicinity.
 
If the foxes eat the head first, then that would not explain why many of the cats heads were separated from their bodies and relatively intact? I have no doubt that animal v animal fights happen and may account for some of the occurrences. But foxes do not take body parts as trophies and return them some time later to the vicinity.
I did say the ''majority". Not all. We have a history in society of individuals commiting acts, copying what has been reported in the media.

I also cannot get away from the feeling that some aspects have been exagerrated by some individuals and the press.
 
Without wishing this to become another 'in or out' debate, I'm afraid, the only people who can truly prevent cats from being killed on our roads are cat's owners themselves.
This really isn't the place to bring up this argument, effectively blaming the owners who have had their pets killed and mutilated.
 
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