Joan King was heartbroken after a neighbour made the gruesome discovery in her garden on Monday, August 10.
Sam the cat had gone missing two days previous.
Joan soon realised Sam had been strangled to death with a bike chain lock which had gone missing from her fence a few days earlier.
She said: “The bike chain was padlocked to the post to keep the gate shut from local farm animals. It went missing a few days before and I didn’t think anything about it at the time. My neighbour had popped in to go shopping with me when she saw what she thought was a tea-towel under the rose bush along my garden path.
“Someone had deliberately strangled Sam with the chain. I loved that cat. He was a real character. He used to walk alongside us with the dog and could hunt for her own food if she wanted. I can’t believe anybody would do such a callous thing.”
Joan, from Trethewey Gardens, Wotter, said she feared it was a targeted attack by someone who held a grudge against her, although she did not know who it could have been.
She said: “Wotter is such a quiet place and I live in a very quiet dead end road where we all know each other. No-one understands why this has happened.
“Who would do such a thing? I looked at him for nearly an hour before I could move again. I just didn’t believe it.
“He was such a lovely little chap. You can see that he fought – his teeth were all bared and grimacing. It looks like he struggled against whoever did it because you can see where his white fur around his neck was darkened and dirtied by the chain.”
Joan called police and the RSPCA about the matter, and they later informed the media that the attack had taken place.
Police have now revealed that they were alerted to an incident at the same address a few weeks previous where a man had angrily sworn at an elderly woman. No-one was arrested.
Joan said she had posted messages around the village in an attempt to identify offender.
She said: “My neighbour who found Sam said she’s had nightmares about it. I just want people to help catch whoever did this terrible thing.”
Police said an investigation has been launched although no-one has been arrested at this stage.
If you have any information call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference number CR/058512/15.
(North Devon Journal - Sept 5, 2015)
i wish people would stop allowing their dogs and cats to roam. there are just too many sickos in the world.
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