YOBS TORTURE CATS (From Thisisdorset)

YOBS TORTURE CATS

10:34am Saturday 6th January 2007 in News By Fiona Pendlebury

ANIMAL charities have reacted with horror after a spate of attacks on cats.

Sick yobs put a cat inside a recycling bin and placed a breeze block over the lid, so it couldn't get out.

The creature was rescued after the householder heard its pitiful cries for help.

In another incident two cats were found dead in a garden pond.

Mary Turner, Bournemouth & District Cats Protection lost and found co-ordinator, said that at least five cats have disappeared in the area within the space of a few weeks and may have suffered a similar fate.

RSPCA regional spokesman Jo Barr said of the recycling bin incident: "The cat was incredibly lucky. There is a possibility that the dustbin may have been emptied and it could have been killed or suffocated.

"It was a very unpleasant incident and we are not sure what the motive was.

"Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is taken very seriously and carries a maximum of six months' imprisonment and £5,000 fine.

"We are certainly keen to hear from anyone who has information or who knows who is responsible for any of these incidents."

A resident in Stratton Road, Muscliffe, alerted the RSPCA after discovering that yobs had put a cat inside his recycling bin and placed a breeze block over the lid, on Wednesday.

The white female cat was later checked over by the PDSA and found to have no injuries.

In the second incident, the distressed householder found the unknown cats' bodies in his garden pond in Pokesdown.

The RSPCA is investigating the cruelty case and is trying to discover who hurled the defenceless creatures into the water.

In the Wiltshire and Dorset areas, 20 cruelty cases were reported to the RSPCA in 2005 and 14 people went on to be convicted of an offence of cruelty.

They included John Ackland, of Sherborne, who drop kicked Bruno, an albino hamster, three metres through the air, used a chair leg to pot him like a snooker ball and hurled the tiny pet from an upstairs window.

The creature received broken legs and brain damage and had to be put to sleep.

Both Dorset Police and the RSPCA are appealing for anyone with information about either of the incidents to get in touch.

The Animal Welfare Act passed in November last year and which comes into effect in April this year will improve the lives of animals.

• Anyone with information about the incidents is urged to contact Inspector Graham Hammond via the RSPCA 24-hour cruelty and information line on 0870 5555999 or Dorset Police on 01202 222 222.