So the cat killer didn't exist after all!

[Baroness Millhaven]

There's another post about this so I'm locking this one - Admin

http://news.met.police.uk/news/scavenging-by-wildlife-established-as-likely-cause-of-reported-cat-mutilations-323426

Let's hope that SNARL stop trying to scare people now.

[rendelharris]

As many have suspected and said on here recently. Cue response from SNARL saying they are the experts and the police know nothing, I don't doubt.

[d.b]

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_windshield_pitting_epidemichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_windshield_pitting_epidemic

[JohnL]

I always assume someone, somewhere has studied this in detail (as part of a thesis perhaps).

If not it's crying out for it - four years to come to this conclusion ?

[Froglander]

Regardless, it's still not a good idea to let your cat roam, especially at night, and precisely because of cars and foxes.

[Sue]

What a shame John of Chener Books isn't here to see this.

He always held there was no cat killer, and was roundly criticised by the SNARL defenders.

[Mscrawthew]

I think any one of the many owners that have come to discover the remains of their family pets not only with missing body parts but some returned to their locality with said body parts neatly placed either on the body or blatantly in the view of the owners and proven to be detached from the body with a sharp instruments may disagree with the underfunded police forces in the U.K.

[intexasatthe moment]

ime reports from the Met aren't always reliable ,I've not forgotten the Ian Tomlinson case.

[rendelharris]

Mscrawthew Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think any one of the many owners that have come

> to discover the remains of their family pets not

> only with missing body parts but some returned to

> their locality with said body parts neatly placed

> either on the body or blatantly in the view of the

> owners and proven to be detached from the body

> with a sharp instruments may disagree with the

> underfunded police forces in the U.K.

"In three instances where CCTV was obtained, footage showed foxes carrying bodies or body-parts of cats.

A woman in north London described how in April 2017, after finding the mutilated body of a cat in her garden, she checked CCTV and saw a fox carrying the cat?s head into her garden.

In June 2017, a cat?s head was found in a school playground in Catford. CCTV showed a fox carrying the head into the playground.

In July 2017, a witness found the body of a cat with no head or tail next to her property. Suspecting that the cat had been placed there, she checked CCTV and saw a fox drop the cat in the position in which it was found."

I'm sure this is going to run and run - SNARL and their supporters made great play of the fact that the police backed them, that there were secret details about modus operandi only they and the police knew, etc etc - now they're going to turn round and say the police are rubbish and don't know what they're talking about? Less so, clearly, than a pair of amateurs who hold absolutely no qualifications for their self-appointed and self-publicised role as quasi-vigilantes.

[rendelharris]

intexasatthe moment Wrote:

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> ime reports from the Met aren't always reliable

> ,I've not forgotten the Ian Tomlinson case.

That was indeed disgusting - but that was them trying to cover up for one of their own, unless the mythical cat killer is a Chief Super as well what would be their motivation for denying their existence?

[Sue]

Mscrawthew Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think any one of the many owners that have come

> to discover the remains of their family pets not

> only with missing body parts but some returned to

> their locality with said body parts neatly placed

> either on the body or blatantly in the view of the

> owners and proven to be detached from the body

> with a sharp instruments may disagree with the

> underfunded police forces in the U.K.

Are you able to refer us to some reliable reports of this proof, please?

[intexasatthe moment]

RH I was thinking that it would just be a way of excusing their lack of progress and interest .

[rendelharris]

intexasatthe moment Wrote:

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> RH I was thinking that it would just be a way of

> excusing their lack of progress and interest .

Yes, it could be - but given the evidence (the actual evidence, not SNARL's "we know other things but we're not telling") and the consensus of expert opinion their conclusions seem eminently reasonable to me.

I'm not sure why some people (not you) are so invested in the idea that there is a "cat killer" that they insist, in the face of the evidence, that s/he's out there. One would have thought an announcement by the police that the evidence shows there isn't someone out there mutilating cats would be met with relief, rather than outrage.

[Sue]

intexasatthe moment Wrote:

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> RH I was thinking that it would just be a way of

> excusing their lack of progress and interest .

From the report linked to above, it seems that far from lacking in interest and not progressing the case, in fact the Met have done a very thorough review of the evidence, in conjunction with various other bodies.

I don't really know why people are so keen for there to be a cat killer on the loose. I'd have thought they'd have been delighted that there wasn't.

ETA: Sorry RH, hadn't read your post at the time I posted this - I think we are saying the same things!

[ED209]

I guess some people would rather have someone to blame, and its nice to think that if they caught this one person that cats would be safe again. If there is no cat killer then there is no solution.

Sadly however, outdoor cats do often come to violent ends, both by other animals and vehicles.

[colville09]

I'm glad the 'cat killer on the loose' thing is dampened down. It only served to prompt other unhinged people fuelled by the web into possible attacks on small creatures and enjoying the fear it was causing. Maybe there was human agency but all the publicity was negative. It is definitely a good idea to keep cats in at night not least because of them being spooked by foxes and presents of dead mice. The Met was absolutely right to investigate things fully, it is an established pattern that some serial killers started with small animals before moving on to human victims.

[sjw]

This report is absolute rubbish--IMO-- I have never heard of a fox ritualistically laying out a body on the doorstep of the cats home.

[JohnL]

sjw Wrote:

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> This report is absolute rubbish--IMO-- I have

> never heard of a fox ritualistically laying out a

> body on the doorstep of the cats home.

Maybe foxes are trying to tell us something in that case.

[Sue]

sjw Wrote:

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> This report is absolute rubbish--IMO-- I have

> never heard of a fox ritualistically laying out a

> body on the doorstep of the cats home.

See some of the posts above.

ETA: And on other threads on the forum relating to this.

"Ritualistically" is just a human interpretation of the way the body was left, isn't it? Unless you know a particular person did it and why they did it in that way, it's just an assumption.

[LooseChippings]

Absolute Nonsense that Foxes are responsible..

If a Fox were to attack (bite) a cat the injuries and wounds would be obvious.

Most Foxes are scared of cats. Cats have sharp claws and fast reactions.

I have seen Foxes holding back while Cats eat food put out for them(foxes)

Never seen a Cat run away from a Fox.

DulwichFox

[BrandNewGuy]

The suggestion is that many of not most of these cats were killed or injured in road accidents. At which point a fox might well get involved.

[Angelina]

I think it's more likely the foxes got hold of the cats after they had been mutilated by a person.

There are too many similarities to the killings - none of which are in a natural predator style of killing.

Total BS.

[uncleglen]

Foxes fighting over a cat could rip it apart, and according to retired Professor of Environmental Science Stephen Harris who studied foxes for 50 years, the blunt force trauma injuries were consistent with road traffic accidents....it could be a new phase in the evolution of foxes to fight in groups since wheelie bins were introduced!

[rendelharris]

Angelina Wrote:

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> I think it's more likely the foxes got hold of the

> cats after they had been mutilated by a person.

>

> There are too many similarities to the killings -

> none of which are in a natural predator style of

> killing.

>

> Total BS.

Do you have evidence for this other than what SNARL have said they know but won't say? And do you have any suggestions why police officers and trained forensics officers and veterinary pathologists don't agree?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

"Never seen a Cat run away from a Fox."

I have! One of my cats was chased by a fox and escaped by throwing itself through the slightly opened window of my sitting room. Fox was too big and therefore foiled.