Family’s horror as pet cat Scoot returns home ‘stabbed’

Diane Broadway urged pet owners to beware after her beloved cat Scoot returned to the family’s home in Portadown with a large wound.

“He came home on Sunday morning. I found him outside in a pool of his own blood,” said Diane, who immediately took him to the vet.

“I had thought he had fallen over and been injured and couldn’t believe it when the vet said he thought the wound could have been from an air rifle or he was sliced with a knife.

“He had a long operation and the vet didn’t find any bullets. The vet said it looked more like a stabbing with a knife. The wound is four inches deep, right to his spine and has cut into his bone, severing muscles in his leg.

“It was quite violent and deliberate. He had extended injuries, went through a long difficult operation, and has been changed for life.”

Diane added: “Scoot, who is only one year old, came home a few weeks ago covered in bleach water. At the time we thought maybe he’d fallen in an old mop bucket in someone’s garden. One of our other cats came home a few months ago injured in what, at the time, was a suspected road traffic collision. Now, with this happening, we think it’s possible he could have been beaten.”

Diane, who has two children aged 11 and 13, said they are very distressed about what happened. She said her neighbours are equally horrified and noone can understand how anyone could do that to an animal. “My elderly neighbour was in tears.

“In my mind if they could do this to animals, they could hurt humans too. It’s one thing to poison or shoot a pet, but a whole other level to get up close and stab them violently,” said Diane, who said Scoot will have long term health implications.

She said her children are ‘scarred for life’. “They just can’t fathom how someone could be so evil.”

Diane is also concerned that her cat is not the only animal to have been attacked in the area and is urging pet owners to be careful.

The PSNI said it received reports of cruelty to an animal in the Brownstown area of Portadown.

Local Neighbourhood Sergeant Victor McNeill said: “It was reported at around 9:30am on Sunday that a cat returned to its home with a large open wound in its side and at this time it is believed that the injuries were inflicted deliberately.

“I would encourage anyone with any information to contact police at Mahon Road in Portadown on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 497 12/10/20.

“You can also submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.

“You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.”

https://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/crime/psni-deal-passed-out-children-ni-town-3000336

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