Cat owners have been warned over a suspicious spate of cat disappearances in Wales. Around 10 cats have disappeared in the Garth Owen area of Newtown, Powys, in the past year. Kelly Healy, who represents the area for Powys council, said many of the disappearances have happened in the past few months, reports BBC.
Ms Healy said: “It’s very suspicious behaviour, and somebody may have been taking them.” Aldwyth Bates, founder of Powys Animal Welfare charity, told the BBC: “We started to be very suspicious, particularly as it was concentrated in one area over a few months.”
Locals have become increasingly concerned about the cat disappearances, and many of the pets remain missing.
According to the County Times, cats from Newtown are reportedly being trapped before being taken away and dumped miles out of the area in towns and villages.
Mr Bates added: “Cats go missing, of course they do, but this was an abnormal number in a cluster around a certain part of an estate.”
Craig Beckerleg’s cat, Ringo, went missing last October and was found several months later by a cat rescue charity in Shrewsbury, more than 30 miles (48 km) away.
Ms Healy, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Newtown, said there was a “pattern” of cats going missing, saying she knew of 10 people saying theirs had disappeared.
She added: “I am working with authorities to try and get a conviction for these terrible acts of cruelty.”
Elsewhere in Wales, last year, a cat went missing in Cardiff and turned up 150 miles away in Stoke-on-Trent.
Richard, the cat’s owner, told Wales Online: “Somebody took her to Bramble and Bear [veterinarian in Staffordshire] where they scanned her and found that she was microchipped.
“The vet then contacted a local vet where we had registered her missing and then the vet in Stoke-on-Trent rang us.
“Hearing the news I felt very emotional. We were also just amazed she was that far away. There’s no way of knowing how she went missing but we think someone might have taken her intentionally.”
The Express has contacted Dyfed-Powys Police for comment.
