A family cat was stolen from outside their home, only for them to find it dead three days later. Ring doorbell footage captured by Naseem Aktar shows a man and a woman luring her 16-year-old Tabby cat, Lola, away from home in Bury, Manchester.
The sales executive searched for her beloved pet for three days after she was stolen on May 25, a bank holiday Monday, which was later attributed to the month's second-ever hottest day. Days later, she received a call saying Lola had been found dead under a car outside St Luke's Church of England Primary School, a couple of hundred metres from her house. Naseem rushed her to the vets, who told her Lola had died from dehydration.
She later contacted the police, but is angry after officers told her they would not be charging the couple who stole her cat, as there are no relevant laws to convict them under. Naseem says the police showed no sympathy and accused them of not caring about her case.
'Lola was like a child to us – she was a member of the family. She was a non-vocal cat, so she couldn't make noises, but it breaks my heart, as you can see her struggling to get away in the videos,' she said. 'We don't know how someone could be capable of doing something like this, and we don't want anyone else to be subjected to the same brutal and cruel actions. It also disgusts me that the police aren't taking action. This couple are responsible for Lola's death, yet they don't seem to care.'
While searching for Lola, Naseem and her family knocked on neighbours' doors, requesting video footage to see if they could gauge her rough location. Horrid footage shows the couple carrying Lola and walking away from Naseem's address. Nassem believes she ended up at an address on Surrey Drive, over half a mile from her house.
The mum-of-three said: 'Lola was mainly an indoor cat. If she did go outside, it was only to our back garden or the boundary wall of our neighbours' fence. She was a very affectionate. You can see her interacting with the people in the video before they take her away.'
Naseem says the couple released the cat, and she was left to make her own way home. She said: 'Lola would have had no idea where she was – it breaks my heart. Market Street is a busy main road; she is scared of cars, so she would have never crossed it.'
Vets believe that Lola died from dehydration while attempting to return home, as there were no visible wounds on her body, due to the intense heat, according to Naseem. She was buried in their back garden, surrounded by roses and flowers, on May 28.
Naseem said: 'She was cruelly taken from the comfort of her home and left to die – it was the hottest day of the bank holiday. I couldn't save Lola, but hopefully by putting this story out there, we might be able to save others.'
Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said they are aware of the alleged cat theft. They said: 'All lines of enquiry were exhausted and the crime has been closed due to insufficient evidence. The person who reported this will have also been given this update via officers who attended.'
