A pregnant mother has revealed footage of the moment teenage thugs kicked her elderly cat unconscious in a ‘diabolical’ attack in which they ‘left him for dead’.
Amy Jo Bland, from West Ham, London, rushed outside after hearing her cat Mr Solly’s screams at 1.18am last Sunday to discover her 16-year-old pet ‘dragging himself’ towards her.
After rushing him to the vets the 31-year-old soon realised that the injuries to Solly’s eye could have been done deliberately and after checking her CCTV camera had her fears confirmed.
Appalling footage, shared on social media more than 30,000 times, shows a pair of youths approach the cat, carefully get close to him and then take a running kick to his head – while filming the horrific attack on their phones.
Amy Jo Bland, from West Ham, London, pictured with her son Rhyley, was disgusted to see CCTV footage of her 16-year-old cat Mr Solly being kicked
The accounts manager said she was lying in bed when Mr Solly’s screaming woke her up. She opened the door to find her pet ‘dragging’ himself towards her
Accounts manager Amy has since walked the streets for hours each night knocking doors in a bid to hunt out the yobs responsible.
Amy Jo said: ‘There’s some evil in this world. When I saw that camera, I could feel myself shaking.
‘I was lay in bed when the attack happened. It was 1.18am so it is unusual for Mr Solly to be out then, but his screaming woke me up.
‘I ran downstairs and he was dragging himself towards me. It was terrifying.
‘I wondered what could have happened to him because at this point I hadn’t checked the CCTV.
‘My uncle lives next-door-but-one so he watched Rhyley while I took Solly to the emergency vets.
The pregnant mother brought Mr Solly to the vets who told her that they thought the cat’s injuries may have been deliberate
‘The vet just said ‘that’s really peculiar’. I hadn’t checked my cameras yet so I had no idea what it could have been deliberate
‘I begged “he’s dying, he’s not going to make it”. I couldn’t believe it.
‘He doesn’t even go out beyond the front garden and he’ll stop within the gates.
‘The vet just said ‘that’s really peculiar’. I hadn’t checked my cameras yet so I had no idea what it could have been.
‘His eye was all swollen. But we knew he hadn’t been hit by a car because I would have heard it going past. I knew he never went across the road.
‘They checked his heart and that was okay but Solly was not happy.’
After checking her CCTV, it emerged the elderly cat had been subjected to a vile attack in which he took such a hard kick to the head that he was at first knocked unconscious.
Once the poor cat came round, footage shows him dragging his hind legs.
Amy Jo said: ‘He’s 16 years old. He couldn’t stand up and was dragging his back legs behind him.
‘He had head trauma and the vets said he must be in shock.
‘Solly is a harmless cat. He keeps himself to himself and mainly lives upstairs.
‘Yesterday he was just shaking and leaning close against the wall. He’s very traumatised.
‘The shock can kill him because he’s that old. Due to his age, the next few weeks are critical.
Harrowing footage captured on CCTV cameras shows the two thugs approach Mr Solly as he sits outside the front gate
One of the suspects then reaches for his smartphone and prepares to record the sickening attack on the family pet
The cowards then run away from the scene, leaving Mr Solly lying momentarily unconscious before the dazed animal gets up and runs into a wall
‘I have been sitting with him again this morning but he’s terrified.
‘It’s really hard to get your head around why anyone would do that to a defenceless animal. He hadn’t gone anywhere near them.
‘The boy just kicked him then got his phone out to film him. On the CCTV footage, he gets his phone out to video him as he lies there unconscious.’
Amy Jo has been walking the streets to try and identify the boys and says she has been able to identify the boy who kicked Solly, but claims the police have failed her cat by not taking action.
She has now taken to social media and threatened to name the boys if no action is taken.
The two thugs run away from the scene after leaving the poor cat for dead. London’s Met Police say no arrests have been made
On Facebook, she wrote: ‘I have been searching again and now have the same name over and over again.I’ve knocked locally and people confirm this is him.
‘I have [gone down] the right channel. I have contacted the police and they are supposed to call me back! Do they? Course they don’t.
‘Solly’s being let done left right and centre. Within the next 24 hours the name along with the pictures and all I have will be posted!!!!’
Amy Jo said: ‘I got home and checked the cameras and couldn’t believe what I saw next.
‘These boys have got to be out there somewhere.
‘If that was my son, I would know. I might not be able to see his face but I would be able to tell by what he was wearing, how he was running. They both looked between 15 and 17 years old.
‘If the parents of these boys have seen my post or the video, please take them straight to the police station.
‘If somebody has been shown this video by those boys and finds this cruelty entertaining, it’s wrong, diabolical.
Accounts manager Amy has since walked the streets for hours each night knocking doors in a bid to hunt out the yobs responsible
‘How anyone can look at that video and laugh, I will never understand.
‘The vet said Solly may never go outdoors again because he’s been so scared by what happened.
‘He might just become a house cat completely but why should he be that cat that stays indoors just because of them?’
The animal lover and shelter volunteer claims she feels some guilt that this attack happened outside her own home, after 18 years of rescuing animals from danger.
The mum, who is currently four months pregnant, says she has been left unable to eat or relax until the teenagers face justice.
Amy Jo said: ‘I’ve rescued cats for 18 years and one that we used to have had been shot. It would have been before we got her and she had survived a long time with it inside her.
‘It’s ridiculous. All these years that I’ve been looking after rescue animals then this happens on my own street – it makes me sick,’ said Amy Jo, who has been rescuing cats for nearly two decades
‘I’ve been rescuing animals myself since I was about 19 and my whole family are animal lovers.
‘It’s ridiculous. All these years that I’ve been looking after rescue animals then this happens on my own street – it makes me sick.
‘It’s affected us. I can’t eat, I’m being sick, there’s no way that people can go around doing that.
‘How many more cats have they done this to?’
A spokesperson from London Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police were called at 03:30hrs on Sunday, 20 August to reports of a cat being attacked by two youths in Gainsborough Road, E15.
‘Officers attended and spoke to the cat’s owner. It is believed the cat was attacked at about 01:00hrs.
‘The cat was taken to a veterinary surgery with minor injuries.
‘No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue.’
A spokesperson from the RSPCA said: ‘The CCTV footage is shocking and shows two people deliberately targeting a family pet who is lucky not to have suffered more serious injuries or even been killed.
‘Unsurprisingly we want to trace these people and are appealing to anyone who might recognise either of the individuals them or have any information which can help identify them to contact us.’