The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Jara Backer with Rennie and James. Photo: VNG150814-21
A pair of cats have been tortured for fouling near their home, claims their devastated owner.
Jara Backer says two-year-old Rennie’s face was burnt with a lighter and he had a part of his tail skinned.
And Rennie’s brother James was left bleeding after having a bag of cat faeces tied tightly to his tail – a “clear message” from the person responsible, says Jara.
She is desperate to find out who is waging a war on her pets – and if other cats in her Long Sutton neighbourhood have suffered too.
Jara said: “This has affected me badly – it’s been a truly traumatic time.
“It’s terrible knowing that someone could do such a horrid, horrid thing. This person must have quite serious mental heath issues.”
Rennie and James have lived with Jara in Market Street most of their lives.
She claims they have both had their whiskers cut off in previous instances of cruelty, but things took a turn for the worse recently.
Jara said: “Rennie got a large burn mark on his face which we have since found out was done by a car cigarette lighter.
“Worse than that – if it’s possible – is that a third of his tail had been skinned.
“It was being held together by sinew and blood vessels.
“He had to have an operation to remove that part.”
Rennie’s face shows a mark thought to be a burn from a car cigarette lighter.
Rennie has not left home since the July 19 incident. James is still confident enough to wander, despite also suffering painful cruelty.
“He returned to my garden making a lot of noise,” Jara said. “I noticed that he had a package on his tail.
“It was a bag of cat mess lashed to his tail with something like musical instrument string.
“It was tied so tightly that it was embedded in his tail, which was bleeding.”
She added: “That was a clear message.”
The incidents have been reported to the police and RSPCA, but there is no evidence as to who is responsible.
In a potentially related incident, a neighbour’s cat went missing for three weeks.
Jara said: “Someone about half a mile away in Gedney Road phoned to say they recognised it as my neighbour’s.
“It looked like it had been living rough so we think it was taken and dumped there.”
Retired psychologist Jara fully accepts that cats messing in other people’s gardens is a nuisance, but says there is no justification for retribution.
She added: “You can’t really control a cat in the same way that you can a dog.
“Cat mess is unwelcome but you cannot be allowed to torture them for it.”
She added: “I want to know if other people have had cats injured or go missing recently so that whoever is responsible might be caught.”
A spokesman for Long Sutton veterinary practice Medivet confirmed that Rennie had an injury consistent with possible cruelty.
Jara says the incidents have cost her £650 in bills.
To pass on information to her, email news@spaldingvoice.co.uk
This is absolutely disgusting behaviour, this person needs to be found. Anybody that tortures helpless animals obviously has a screw loose and experts say it is how most serial killers start. I hope this individual has no children or pets of their own, or god help them, this person is sick. Cats do mess in other peoples garden its nature and that’s how it is and nothing can be done about it. If people cannot deal with that they need to move and live away from society. I would be concerned if I was a resident of Long Sutton, they have a one deranged individual in their village