Last updated at 16:51, Monday, 13 August 2012

A QUIET housing estate has been hit by several cat poisonings.

PUT DOWN: Maine coon cat Conker was poisoned by anti-freeze. Owner Shelley Nuttall says it is the fifth cat to die in Chapel Field on Walney SUBMITTED

Shelley Nuttall lost her cat after it was poisoned by anti-freeze and said it was the fifth cat to die in Walney street Chapel Field.

Mrs Nuttall’s 16-month-old cat Conker, a Maine coon pedigree, was poisoned on Tuesday and she has contacted the RSPCA about the death.

She said: “I had seen him at dinner time and he was out playing with our other cat and it was about 7pm when he came back. He didn’t look too good.

“I took him to the emergency vet on Tuesday night. They gave him a couple of injections then sent him away.

“I went back to my own vet with him on Wednesday morning and they said he’d been poisoned. They tried to flush it out of his system but then had to put him down.

“I am very upset. I’m devastated, especially as this may not have been an accident.”

Mrs Nuttall has spoken to the RSPCA and her local police community support officer about the poisoning and said the family are now worried about their other cat.

She said: “One of my neighbours was the first person in the street to lose their cat. Because it was the first one, we just thought it was an isolated incident. But now we are the fifth house that has had a cat poisoned. One of the other neighbours put up leaflets after she lost two cats through it.

“We have another cat and we have been trying to keep him in, but he’s a Maine coon too which is a hunter so it has been hard to keep him in. We’re trying our best though.”

The RSPCA confirmed it was investigating the incident. Poisoning a cat is a criminal offence. Under the Animal Welfare Act, those found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering face a penalty of up to six months custodial sentence and/or a £20,000 fine. Anyone with information on animals being mistreated can call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

First published at 13:10, Sunday, 12 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk