In Watford, a rabbit was killed and six months later, his head was returned to his garden and found by his owner. It was pristine and looked like it had just happened. This wasn't reported to Police as she was disgusted by their response when reporting the incident. That's not foxes.
What are the police supposed to do about preventing cats being killed on the roads?
I have not looked in to the cat killer story at all, but I still say there is a bit of a Disneyfied idea of predatory behavior going around.
My dogs have come home with all sorts of animal parts.
Once Bates came home with the head of a fawn. He didn't kill the fawn, it was starting to decompose, but it was a cleanly decapitated head. Some predator had killed the fawn, eaten part of it, gotten chased off or scared off, or was simply full and left the rest of the carcass. There are animal parts all over the place in the woods around here leftover from kills.
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.
The large majority of those 400 had bellies sliced open in a single slit, had the exact same body parts missing every single time, and were spread across the UK in both urban and suburban areas. The victims included a horse.
What are the police supposed to do about preventing cats being killed on the roads?
I have not looked in to the cat killer story at all, but I still say there is a bit of a Disneyfied idea of predatory behavior going around.
My dogs have come home with all sorts of animal parts.
Once Bates came home with the head of a fawn. He didn't kill the fawn, it was starting to decompose, but it was a cleanly decapitated head. Some predator had killed the fawn, eaten part of it, gotten chased off or scared off, or was simply full and left the rest of the carcass. There are animal parts all over the place in the woods around here leftover from kills.
We don't have the predators that you do though. It's the way animals have been mutilated and parts returned to their homes that indicates that this isn't an animal's doing.
Where on earth in my post did I blame owners for the deaths and mutilation of their pets?
If you get off your horse for a moment and read my reply it was in reference to the comment made about the police not doing enough to protect cats on our roads! It's impossible for the police to do anything about cats being killed on our roads...that's simply an owner's responsibility and not a policing issue but It had absolutely nothing to do with bringing that argument up again...hence my comment about not wanting it to be made into one so please don't accuse me of trying to start that argument.
As for suggesting that I was effectively blaming owner's for the mutilation deaths of their pets, absolute rubbish!
The large majority of those 400 had bellies sliced open in a single slit, had the exact same body parts missing every single time, and were spread across the UK in both urban and suburban areas. The victims included a horse.
I know. Which makes me wonder if that lack of experience with predation is making people assume things inaccurately.
For example dogs kill for fun sometimes. A loose neighborhood dog could be out killing cats. Or a smart, opportunistic fox.
Doesn't mean that some of the cases can't be attributed to some sick individual(s) humans, but perhaps some of them were just grisly deaths, or road deaths later scavenged. That can look pretty sick depending on what stage you discover it
I suppose if any good can come out of this, it might encourage more people to keep their cats indoors overnight, instead of having to be wise only after something terrible happens to one of their cats. If they think foxes might do this, then at least they might make sure their cats are safely indoors during the long winter evenings ahead.
It was posted on SNARL, I think it was about 12-18 months ago. There have also been squirrels, foxes, rabbits and I think possibly a dog.
I would also suggest you take a look at the video below, there is a body seen quite early on. It is rather graphic, but please do explain to me what animal or car did that to a cat.
I know. Which makes me wonder if that lack of experience with predation is making people assume things inaccurately.
For example dogs kill for fun sometimes. A loose neighborhood dog could be out killing cats. Or a smart, opportunistic fox.
Doesn't mean that some of the cases can't be attributed to some sick individual(s) humans, but perhaps some of them were just grisly deaths, or road deaths later scavenged. That can look pretty sick depending on what stage you discover it
SNARL have ruled out 1300 cases as having non-human involvement - so yes in those cases it's probably right. It's the one's they can't rule out human involvement for which is the issue.
And there are details IIRC that haven't been made public as well - so as not to encourage others to copy - which is what makes them think it's the same person.
It was posted on SNARL, I think it was about 12-18 months ago. There have also been squirrels, foxes, rabbits and I think possibly a dog.
I would also suggest you take a look at the video below, there is a body seen quite early on. It is rather graphic, but please do explain to me what animal or car did that to a cat.
Posted on SNARL? I know what SNARL is but, I'm sorry, 'posted on SNARL' doesn't mean very much to me. A veterinary pathologist retracted his initial findings where he had indicated 'sharp objects'. All of the animals examined by the RVC's head of veterinary pathology were found to have wounds consistent with road traffic accidents and/or mauling by wildlife.
But as I said in my initial post, I still do not think human involvement can be ruled out in all cases.
Posted on SNARL? I know what SNARL is but, I'm sorry, 'posted on SNARL' doesn't mean very much to me. A veterinary pathologist retracted his initial findings where he had indicated 'sharp objects'. All of the animals examined by the RVC's head of veterinary pathology were found to have wounds consistent with road traffic accidents and/or mauling by wildlife.
But as I said in my initial post, I still do not think human involvement can be ruled out in all cases.
There have always been foxes, but these attacks have been over the past few years. It's reminiscent of the Hampshire ''horse ripper'' (90's?) - in those cases, quite often, the horse's genitalia were mutilated, often so badly that the horse had to be euthanised. Despite ''psychological profiling'' of the attacker he/she was never caught.
Posted on SNARL? I know what SNARL is but, I'm sorry, 'posted on SNARL' doesn't mean very much to me. A veterinary pathologist retracted his initial findings where he had indicated 'sharp objects'. All of the animals examined by the RVC's head of veterinary pathology were found to have wounds consistent with road traffic accidents and/or mauling by wildlife.
But as I said in my initial post, I still do not think human involvement can be ruled out in all cases.
SNARL is the rescue that is spearheading the campaign, they're visiting every report and identifying the victims. They have been liaising with the police, vets that have performed postmortems. That vet has gone back on his previous statement where he confirmed that they had been cut by a sharp instrument. The whole thing is very fishy, and the statements given, particularly by the media, are totally incorrect.
SNARL is the rescue that is spearheading the campaign, they're visiting every report and identifying the victims. They have been liaising with the police, vets that have performed postmortems. That vet has gone back on his previous statement where he confirmed that they had been cut by a sharp instrument. The whole thing is very fishy, and the statements given, particularly by the media, are totally incorrect.
Yes, as I mentioned, I do know what SNARL is. This is an excerpt from The Guardian and I believe would explain why the vet who examined some of the cats later retracted his findings.
"Melinda Merck is a leading forensic vet and cat specialist who has spent more than 20 years studying and solving high-profile animal abuse cases in the US. She recalls several similar grisly cat deaths where, "depending on the level of experience of the vet doing the examination, the sharpness of a predator's teeth, and the way the skin can tear, can make it look like it was cut with a sharp object … Vets can miss small defects that correspond to a tooth, or puncture wounds hidden in fur."
Yes, as I mentioned, I do know what SNARL is. This is an excerpt from The Guardian and I believe would explain why the vet who examined some of the cats later retracted his findings.
"Melinda Merck is a leading forensic vet and cat specialist who has spent more than 20 years studying and solving high-profile animal abuse cases in the US. She recalls several similar grisly cat deaths where, "depending on the level of experience of the vet doing the examination, the sharpness of a predator's teeth, and the way the skin can tear, can make it look like it was cut with a sharp object … Vets can miss small defects that correspond to a tooth, or puncture wounds hidden in fur."
I agree there is much conflicting expert opinion; one could make a very convicing argument either way from the media reporting and other sources of information. I have followed this closely for several years and just cannot feel convinced that the majority of these poor cats were killed by a person with malicious intent. There is also something about the couple who launched SNARL that unsettles me slightly in relation to their credibility.
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