Today the Metropolitan Police and RSPCA released confirmed figures of 19 deaths attributed to the “M25 Cat Killer”. We have been asked repeatedly over this evening why their and our figures don’t agree so we thought it best to clarify:
Our vet originally conducted 10 post mortems and 2 examinations on body parts which were confirmed as having being the result of a human being multilating the bodies with a bladed weapon, the cat’s deaths (where we had bodies and not body parts) being caused by blunt force trauma.
Of those 12, 4 bodies went to the RSPCA in Jan/Feb for further examination and were confirmed as the same – deaths by blunt force trauma, followed by cuts to the bodies made with a bladed weapon.
The RSPCA has further conducted post mortems on another 15 bodies, bringing their total of confirmed cases up to 19 and our total of confirmed cases up to 27.
This does not include the number of animals killed between September 2015 and April 2016 where we were not able to retrieve the bodies (thanks mostly to Croydon Council’s unwillingness to work with us) – nine.
That’s 36.
In order for us to include a case where we have not retrieved the body, we have a number of markers including wounds, first person description, photo, vets report and a number of other checks that we have not publicised. The same criteria applies for historical cases.
Additional to this and still awaiting confirmation are the following:
Mac, found in Streatham on 6 March 2016
Storm, found in Stretton Road Addiscombe on 10 March 2016
Oreo, found in Frimley Green on 17 March 2016
Louie, found in Chislehurst on 21 March 2016 whose death we believe is linked to this case
An unidentified light tortoiseshell/ tabby cat found in Ruislip on 24 March 2016, whose death we believe is linked
Lulu, found decapitated on 2 April 2016 outside her home in Kingston, whose death we believe is linked
Bertie, found decapitated outside his home in Camberley on 4 April 2016, whose death we believe is linked.
Buddy, found murdered in Forest Hill on 8 April 2016.
That’s 44.
A fox cub’s head found in Shirley on 12 April 2016 which we are pretty sure is related as it meets a number of our criteria
The paw of a rabbit found last week, not sure yet if related
The body of a hare/ rabbit found in Yateley at the weekend, which we are very sure is related as it meets all our criteria
That’s 46 and possibly 47.
In addition to this, for every case we have, we have at least one other and in some cases, two to three other, historical cases, of which 50 have met our very strict criteria for inclusion over the past few months and of which approx 50 have come in over the past six weeks and which we have included as they meet at least 6 of our 8 criteria.
We are still going through the last 50 to confirm them and we can’t give an accurate figure at present. In this 50 odd cases, we have already ruled out road traffic accidents and victims who appear to have been murdered but whose deaths do not match this case.
However, we believe the toll over the past two years could be over 100 murders of cats, foxes and rabbits in the greater London, Surrey, Hampshire, Essex and Bedfordshire areas.
The police and RSPCA figures are not incorrect, they have just started counting in a different place, with the bodies they have as evidence. Criminal prosecutions by and large rely on physical evidence, which is why it is so important that we be notified when a murdered animal is found, to secure it.
We would ask that everyone please continue to share our pinned post so that people are aware of the issue and can keep their cats safe and so that we can continue to retrieve bodies of victims to ensure a robust criminal prosecution when the time finally arrives.
Stark statistics do not show the swathes of grief, anguish and pain these murders have caused.
We would like to thank the families of the victims and the finders who continue to talk to us, meet with us, pick up the phone to us, to say the words we are now used to hearing:
“I found my cat beheaded in my garden and no-one did anything”;
“My fox had two cubs and I watched them grow up. One day …”;
“My cat went out for a wander before bedtime and never came home. When we found his body, the vet said that the wounds had been caused by a human being”;
“I saw half a cat in a bush, cleanly cut, whilst walking my kids to school. I shielded my children’s eyes but they saw it and I didn’t know what to do”;
“Hi, I’m A from B vets in (several locations across London). I;ve got the body of a cat here and I’ve never seen anything so disturbing in my life.”
The courage they have shown in their willingness to open old wounds and to pick at new ones, to talk to us despite their ongoing grief and trauma, has been remarkable.
Our thoughts remain with the finders and with each of the victim’s families.
Tony and Boudicca
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