Cat owners, be alert.

[Otta]

To be clear, I do not want to see a single cat hurt. But I am also realistic about public services and limited resources.

[singalto]

Otta, one of the killer's victims was from the street next to mine and was found by someone with a small child. The police team dealing with these horrible crimes cover a very large area and I understand that nearly 100 cats may have been killed by this sick person. Would you prefer to wait until he/she moves on to a human before 'wasting police resources ' or is it wiser to stop this before it goes that far? I am a cat owner and would be devastated if something like this happened to one of my animals.

[rendelharris]

I agree with all of you! It's not the most important crime the police have to investigate - in an age of terror how could it be - but equally I'd sooner they went after anyone who hurt one of my pets than someone who keyed my car or nicked my 'phone. We'll just have to trust the police to prioritise appropriately.

[Otta]

Indeed.

My only point was that 16 detectives working full time on the case would be too much. And I stand by it. Equally this obviously needs to be addressed appropriately.

Anyway, I wish you all and your cats a safe and happy Christmas.

[Mystic Mog]

rendelharris Wrote:

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

> "Collin leads a team of 16 officers. They are

> running a number of investigations..." So it's a

> team of detectives, one of whose cases is the cat

> killer, not seventeen officers on the one case.

[lilolil]

But it's not only cats. Several foxes, two puppies and rabbits have been linked to this case by the police, vets, RSPCA and of course SNARL.

There is a very good chance that this person will move on to larger targets. Let's hope he or she gets caught ASAP.

[Blah Blah]

There is a lot to worry about in the psychological profile of someone who tortures, kill and mutilates animals. This person needs to be caught, before he or she moves onto larger targets as the Lilo says above.

[singalto]

He appears to have killed several foxes over the past few days. 😰

[rendelharris]

singalto Wrote:

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

> He appears to have killed several foxes over the

> past few days. 😰

This is what slightly confuses me about this whole story: I absolutely believe that some freak is going round doing something very nasty to these poor animals, but I can't imagine any way one could catch an urban fox, they generally run like blazes at the sound of a footfall. Am I remembering wrongly, or was there a suggestion from the RSPCA that some pervert was going around taking "trophies" from animals which had already been run down by cars?

No disparagement of the pain suffered by those who've lost their pets intended, just wondering what's really going on.

[lilolil]

The wounds on these animals are consistent with the others that have been linked to this case.

[Sue]

rendelharris Wrote:

----------------- Am I

> remembering wrongly, or was there a suggestion

> from the RSPCA that some pervert was going around

> taking "trophies" from animals which had already

> been run down by cars?

>

> No disparagement of the pain suffered by those

> who've lost their pets intended, just wondering

> what's really going on.

Yes, I wonder too.

Very sorry for those whose pets have been killed, but not sure exactly how they may have died ........

[lilolil]

South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty - SNARL

July 12 ?

PLEASE SHARE:

We are currently working alongside the police and the RSPCA to find the identity of the "M25 cat killer". We now have 31 cases confirmed by post mortem, with around 90 since Feb 2016 which bear the hallmarks of what is believed (through forensic evidence) to be the same killer.

Most of the attacks are occuring across a wide area in greater London, but we have also collected bodies from St Albans (confirmed by post mortem), Brackley in Northamptonshire (confirmed by post mortem)

Brighton, Maidstone, Manchester (confirmed by post mortem), Birmingham (confirmed by post mortem) and the Isle of Wight with identical wounds and are awaiting post mortem results to either rule these in or out.

If you live in Greater London you are currently living in a high risk area for these killings. However, we also now want to know about any cats, foxes or birds found with the following combination of injuries from Manchester down to the South Coast:

Decapitations/ removal of tail/ removal of paws/ any combination of these.

Please note that a high number of birds found decapitated are caused by predation injury, but we have one case of an owl who was decapitated in East London with a bladed instrument so we would rather know about them all.

If you see anyone behaving oddly around cats, foxes or birds in the area from Manchester down to the South Coast, please call this into police via 101 with a full description of the person and what they are doing, and quote Operation Takahe in the call. Where possible get vehicle registration details. Please then send us the police or CAD reference number.

If you see anyone catching a cat, kidnapping a cat or fox or bird, hurting, kicking, standing on or otherwise causing harm to a cat or fox or bird in the same geographical area, that same advice applies except that's a 999 call.

If you find a body which bear the injuries listed or body parts (heads, legs, paws or tails) above from Manchester down to the South Coast, please call us on 07961 030064 or 07957 830490 immediately. Please stay with the body/parts if you can and prevent any council or waste services from touching or removing it and anyone from photographing it. Our phones are by nature busy so if you can't get through on one number, try the other.

We advise that anyone living in the greater London area keep their cats indoors as much as they can and let them out only during the day when they can be supervised. Please keep your cats in at night. We appreciate this isn't easy, particularly as the weather gets warmer but you will cut the risk to your cat dramatically if you keep them indoors during the hours of darkness.

If you have any information about who might be committing these offences, please call the team running Operation Takahe on 0208 6490216. If you feel uneasy speaking to the police, you can contact us instead on the mobile numbers listed above. All calls will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

[lilolil]

Do you know someone who has traveled to most or all of these areas on the rough dates provided:

Please be aware that whilst we believe these attacks to be linked there has not been time or opportunity in some cases to verify by post mortem.

Most attacks are likely to have taken place the night before, hence the date hedge. Also, these locations may not be destinations but simply places he stopped:

21-22 Nov 2016 St Paul's Cray, BR5

22-23,Nov 2016 Carshalton

27-28 Nov 2016 SW16 and Surbiton

30 Nov - 1 Dec 2016 East Grinstead

2 Dec 2016 Banstead

2-3 Dec 2016 South Croydon

29 Nov - 1 Dec 2016 Chatham

4 Dec 2016 Feltham

5 Dec 2016 Tranmere, the Wirral

If you know of anyone who has done these sorts of journeys on these dates please CALL us on 07961 030064 or 07957 830490 or the Operation Takahe team on 0208 6490216.

[Sue]

Do the post mortems all show that the animals died from the knife wounds, and that they were not dead or seriously injured from some other cause before the knife wounds were inflicted?

Sorry, I know it's an emotive issue.

[lilolil]

Apparently so.

Have a look on SNARL,s Facebook page for more information

[Caro9429]

:( This is still happening? Glad the police/SNARL are still reminding people to be vigilant. :(

[ChasPrendergast]

This is absolutely awful. The only time I'll let my cat out now is when I'm with her. Hope they catch the nasties responsible for this.

[JohnL]

You'd have thought CCTV would have caught this guy.

[Jennys]

I read somewhere that the person only operates away from any CCTV.

[klove]

Possible description of the attacker in today's newspapers...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/31/police-issue-description-of-croyden-cat-killer

"He is said to be a white man in his 40s with short brown hair, dressed in dark clothing, possibly with acne scarring to his face. It also says he may be wearing a headlamp or carrying a torch."

[edhistory]

Has anyone yet identified a single report that can not be traced back to SNARL as the sole source?

[katanita]

Sigh, is this seriously a suggestion that SNARL might be fabricating these incidents? Would the police (who I have personally spoken to regarding this case) be devoting this level of resource to it if that were the case? Is this woman making it up? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p057d3m6

If you mean regarding the description, it came from Surrey Police, as stated in this article http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/27/there-may-have-been-a-sighting-of-the-croydon-cat-killer-6882036/. So, in answer to your question, yes, many.

Apologies I've misunderstood the implication of your post, but not sure why it was necessary.

edhistory Wrote:

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

> Has anyone yet identified a single report that can

> not be traced back to SNARL as the sole source?

[singalto]

Katanita, I totally agree with you. The police have a dedicated team working with SNARL to try and catch the disgusting person doing this. One of the victims was found in Sylvester road so it has been very close to home.I have read articles about these events in newspapers such as The Times. SNARL keeps us up to date and attend most of the incidents. How they cope I don't know but I commend them.

[civilservant]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41444659 'Croydon cat killer': Surrey forensic lab probes deaths

[singalto]

The killer is still very, very active so please keep your cats in at night. Some of you say that your cats don't like being kept in at night. I have 4 cats who have got used to being kept in. Better than a mutilated pet..