Fears that real-life Cruella is stalking town's pets
A SPATE of cats going missing in a Northampton housing estate could be linked to a growing trade in feline fur, according to pet charity workers.
Worried cat-owners living in Longford Avenue, Little Billing, have contacted the Chronicle & Echo after their pets went missing one by one.
Andrew Phillips, 26, told how he lost his cat, Smokey, last Tuesday and soon discovered he was not the only one.
He said: " I thought it had just been lost until I asked my neighbours to see if they'd seen her and they told me they had had the same problem."
Four other microchipped cats have gone missing from the small street and adjacent Twyford Close since the summer, leaving the owners baffled.
A worker for feline welfare charity Cats Protection said she believed the animals could have been taken for their fur.
In a series of Hollywood films, the evil character of Cruella De Vil is bent on capturing a large litter of dalmatian puppies and using their fur for garments.
Sarah Hadwin, who compiles the Cats Protection charity's lost cat register for Northampton, said: "It is extremely unusual for so many to go missing together like that. Cats being taken for their pelts is something many people who deal with animals have heard about."
Cats disappearing together has been an ongoing phenomena in the UK.
In 1995 in Luton, Bedfordshire, for example, seven cats vanished from a single street in one afternoon, while 21 cats vanished from a nearby village and 200 cats vanished over a three-month period.
Other animal charities in Northampton are adamant the disappearances are more then just pets run over by a car or locked in a garage somewhere.
Annette Gudgeon, of Animals in Need Northamptonshire, said: "There are so many cats going missing that they must be going to these fur traders.
"You just need to look at the notices for lost cats on our shop window and on vets' notice boards to see what a problem is has been.
"We have looked into the issue before but not come up with anything. These people are obviously being very clever about it."
Cat and dog fur is sometimes used legally by manufacturers to make faux fur clothing and is renowned for being decent quality at a low price.
The European MP for the East Midlands, Chris Heaton-Harris, has launched a website campaign backing an EU proposal calling for a total ban on the importation of cat and dog fur.
He said: "I have not heard that trade in the fur is a problem in Northampton, but if nothing else the fact there is an import trade proves there is a lucrative market for it."
Has your cat gone missing? Call our reporter, Nick Spoors, on Northampton 467033.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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