- As public concern grows over a bizarre
series of animal mutilations across London, police and animal welfare groups
are to meet to draw up a strategy to catch the killer. The sadist, who
abducts cats and rabbits, kills them, and leaves their mutilated remains
where they can be discovered by their owners, has struck right across the
capital.
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- Mutilated cats have been found all across
London
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- To date 30 cats and 10 rabbits have been
slaughtered since the beginning of the year, all in clusters around London
and the South-East from Barnet to Weybridge.
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- The animals are taken late at night or
early in the morning and their heads and tails removed with a cleaver.
The cats - some of which have also had their blood drained - have been
laid in gardens near their owners' homes. Many of the animals have been
found with their heads placed beside the bodies or their brains removed.
Last week, 10 cats were found with the same trademark mutilations.
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- The attacks, which began in February
when the body of a decapitated rabbit and the head of a cat were found
in a school playground in Tottenham, have baffled and shocked RSPCA inspectors.
Police and senior officials from the society will be meeting for the first
time tomorrow to launch a co-ordinated investigation.
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- Tory MP Roger Gale, chairman of the all-party
group on animal welfare, is also calling for the BBC Crimewatch programme
to highlight the attacks. "This is a very distressing time for pet
owners," he said. "But they and the rest of the public can help
enormously looking out for these killers and helping to track them down."
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- Forensic psychologist Susan Hope-Borland
warned that people who harm animals are more likely to go on to a life
of violent crime. She said investigations by the FBI had revealed that
a history of animal abuse plays a significant part in a serial killer's
make-up.
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- "It is very worrying because the
killings appear so ritualistic. There is an established link between serious
cruelty to animals and the development of more serious violence against
people." Pet owner Sarah Earl, 27, of Palmers Green, found the headless
corpse of her twoyear-old Russian Blue cat Tempura in a neighbour's garden.
She said: "I'm haunted by the memories and want to move house as
soon as possible." Ms Earl, who has two other cats, added: "All
cat owners around here are terrified now."
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- Another Russian Blue, a kitten, was found
decapitated in a garden in Streatham. Its owner, Nicholas Richards, a computer
systems designer, said: "Katya was only a kitten so she wasn't spending
a great deal of time outside. "When I first saw the body I told my
12-year-old daughter to stay away - but unfortunately she did get a glimpse.
"She reacted very badly to it at first but I think she's getting over
it now. Luckily, my sixyear-old son was at home with my wife at the time."
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- He added: "At first I thought that
it was probably a fox so I rang the RSPCA to find out if they knew anything.
When I told them they just said, 'Oh my God, not another one'." In
a similar case Yvonne Trumble's black cat, Mabel, was found in a neighbour's
garden in Barnet. Ms Trumble, a bereavement counsellor, said: "All
I know is that she died at the hands of humans. It was so horrible. I was
upset for days."
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- Another victim was Daisy from Weybridge,
a tortoiseshell tabby who had half her head and tail removed. A post-mortem
showed that someone had removed her brain, although there were no traces
of blood on the body.
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- Being independent, free-ranging animals,
cats have always been vulnerable to random cruelty. The traditional image
is of unwanted kittens found drowned in a sack or teenage boys firing off
slugs from an airgun at a terrified animal.
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- But accordingto the man who is co-ordinating
the investigation, RSPCA inspector Nigel Shelton, these cases of ritual
mutilation are something new. Mr Shelton, based in Barnet, where there
have been five attacks, has a thick file of cases. "We thought at
first that we were looking for one person," he said. "But then
the number of cases began to increase and we suspect that a gang is involved
and that they must have transport to travel around the capital looking
for likely victims."
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- © Associated Newspapers Ltd. 1998
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