A couple in Hull were left horrified after the severed tail of their pet cat was posted through their letterbox, leading them to believe the animal had been “murdered”.
Louise, 45, and Lisa, 47, discovered the chopped-off appendage jammed through the mailbox of their apartment days after their tabby Max went missing last Monday. Police are believed to be investigating the discovery, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Targeted attack fears
The pair, who have asked for their surnames to be withheld, say they think Max may have been killed in what they describe as a “targeted attack” against them. It is not clear why Max was seemingly targeted.
Louise said: “We are devastated and heartbroken - who could do such a thing to an animal. He was murdered for no reason at all.”
“It's not normal for him to go missing, so we knew something was wrong,” she added. “He'd only go as far as the front or back garden, he was really happy at home.”
Discovery of the tail
Louise described the moment Lisa made the discovery. “I just heard Lisa screaming and crying. That is something I will never forget. She was calling for me to ring the police. I started crying and screaming. I just broke down.”
“I thought Lisa must have found him collapsed on the floor - but when I got there I realised it was not his whole body, it was just his tail. It's definitely his. He's a tabby cat with a white tip on the tail. It looks like a paintbrush,” she said.
Investigation and wedding plans
Humberside Police are reportedly investigating the incident, while vets in Liverpool are analysing the tail in hopes of identifying someone who might have touched it.
Louise said: “I've got horrible images in my head that the tail was taken off while he was alive. I go through phases of not feeling anything, like a zombie, and then all of a sudden I get waves of emotion. It's awful not knowing where the rest of his body is.”
Louise and Lisa, who were organising their wedding, have cancelled their afterparty due to the grief and fear caused by the discovery. Louise said: “It has put a massive shadow over it. We've told all of our guests that we aren't doing anything afterwards now, we're just going to the registry office and then for one drink.”
“We were originally going to go to a pub in Hull to have a buffet,” she added. “We still want to get married, we just can't bear the thought of celebrating.”
