Family cat killed by dogs in suspected ‘blooding’ incident
AN ANIMAL owner has been left distraught after two lurchers were set upon her little cat and destroyed it as it sat in her front garden.
Katherine Darby Flynn was at home watching television over the St Patrick’s Day weekend when she heard two men shouting “get her, get her”, followed by a bloodcurdling scream from her little cat Salem.
“I have three cats, all of them are rescues. I was watching television that night when I heard two voices shouting and then a bloodcurdling scream from Salem. I’ve never heard anything like it before. It was horrendous.
"By the time I got to the window, I saw two men with two dogs leaving the garden. The two dogs had the cat up against the garden gate. She was trapped, she had no chance. One of my neighbours saw them running away; one of the dogs had the cat in his mouth and the two men were laughing hysterically, like psychopaths,” said Katherine.
Several of Katherine’s neighbours in St Mary’s Park, Carlow heard the commotion, with one of them even following the two men in his car, but he lost sight of them.
Another neighbour spotted the dead cat in the estate, but when Katherine went to get it so that she would bury it with dignity, it had been removed.
She was deeply shaken by the event and hoped that little Salem would return home later that night, but she didn’t come back.
“How could someone be so barbaric? Hopefully someone who knows them has a conscience and will report them. There are lots of cats that live on our road. Some families have multiple cats and those people probably knew that.
"They were “blooding” their lurchers and now that they have a taste of blood, that’s it. They could go after a small child or anything. It’s horrendous what they did,” said Katherine.
“I sat shivering until 4am, praying that she got away from those dogs and that she’d come home, but she didn’t".
“I was white as a sheet and shivering like a leaf. I’m heartbroken over this, I really am. My cats are like my babies; my two other cats went mad when they heard Salem screaming out."
Katherine, who is a trained ceramic artist and is a committed animal lover, is deeply disturbed that people could behave in such a way. She is now warning pet owners to keep their animals indoors, or at least in a back garden that’s secure.
Gardaí in Carlow Garda Station are investigating the incident and are appealing for anyone who was in St Mary’s Park, Carlow just after midnight on Saturday 15 March and who saw anything suspicious to contact them on 059 9136620.
