There is NO Croydon cat killer: Police finally close case and say foxes behind disfigurements

Police investigating hundreds of reported cat mutilations have announced that they were not the work of a human killer.

The headless animal corpses in Croydon and elsewhere had sparked fears that a cat killer was stalking the streets of south London.

But the Metropolitan Police today announced that the disfigurements were likely carried out by foxes after cars struck the cats dead. 

Reports of mutilated cats, often found with their heads and tails removed, sparked an investigation in November 2015.

Officers worked with the RSPCA and local charity South Norwood Animal Rescue League (SNARL).

Ukiyo who was found dismembered near her owner’s home in the Croydon area of London

Despite fears of a ‘Croydon Cat Killer’ or an ‘M25 Cat Killer’, they now believe the most likely culprits behind the dismemberments were foxes. 

In 2016, SNARL arranged 25 post-mortem examinations on cats that had been found mutilated. 

Samantha Brown with her pet cat Harley, who is thought to have been slain by the notorious Croydon Cat Killer 

These were conducted by a veterinary pathologist. 

The cause of death was found to be blunt force trauma, such as collisions with vehicles. 

The mutilations were found to have occurred after death, with some thought to have been caused by a sharp implement.

On the basis of these examinations, six cases of cat mutilation were deemed suspicious and the Met’s duty to investigate was established due to the corroborative information in terms of allegations from SNARL and initial veterinary pathology results.

Officers collated more than 400 additional reports made to the Met by members of the public or animal charities of cat mutilations across London and surrounding counties.  

No evidence of human involvement was found in any of the reported cases. 

In three instances where CCTV was obtained, footage showed foxes carrying bodies or body-parts of cats.

Massive, also a victim of the notorious cat killer, was found dead in East Sussex

A woman in north London described how in April 2017, after finding the mutilated body of a cat in her garden, she checked CCTV and saw a fox carrying the cat’s head into her garden.

In June 2017, a cat’s head was found in a school playground in Catford. CCTV showed a fox carrying the head into the playground.

The following month a witness found the body of a cat with no head or tail next to her property. Suspecting that the cat had been placed there, she checked CCTV and saw a fox drop the cat in the position in which it was found.

Officers also took note of expert opinion – including a recent, widely reported New Scientist article – which highlights how wildlife is known to scavenge on road-kill, often removing the heads and tails of dead animals.

Squiggles from Surrey who was found dead – thought to have been murdered by the Croydon Cat Killer

Similar cases were investigated by Hertfordshire Constabulary. Dr Henny Martineau, the Head of Veterinary Forensic Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, carried out post-mortem examinations on three cats and two rabbits in June 2018. 

She concluded that the mutilations had been caused by predation and/or scavenging, and highlighted that fox DNA had been found around the wound sites on all five bodies. 

The veterinary pathologist who carried out the original post-mortems conducted re-examinations on the six bodies in August 2018. He found puncture wounds not found previously on some of the animals and concluded that some had been potentially scavenged.

In a statement today the Metropolitan Police said is urging the public to contact the RSPCA in the first instance where they have concerns about animal welfare.

‘Additional forensic tests were carried out, and these did not show any clear difference between marks on the bodies of cats that had been scavenged and the cats whose mutilations had been deemed suspicious,’ the force said.

‘Officers were aware of a spate of reported mutilations some 20 years ago which were eventually attributed to predation by wildlife. However the evidence initially provided by the six post-mortem examinations warranted further investigation of the more recent spate.’

It was today announced that every one of the cases of cat mutilation will be recorded as ‘no crime’.

Frontline Policing Commander Amanda Pearson said: ‘On average, the Met receives over 1,000 calls each month relating to animals and animal welfare.

‘We understand the reason for this – people trust the police to help them when they suspect others have done wrong, fear for their own safety or simply are facing situations that they are unable to handle themselves.

‘We will always assist the public in an emergency, but I would urge people to report concerns relating to animal welfare in the first instance to the RSPCA.

‘The decision was made to allocate a large number of similar reports of mutilated cats to the officers who were investigating the initial spate of such allegations. In particular, they were following up the six suspicious cases identified by the post-mortem examinations.

‘While this increased the workload of those officers, it significantly reduced the resources that would have been required for different officers in different units to record and assess each allegation separately.

‘It is this collating of reports that enabled officers to work with experts and reach the conclusion that no further police investigations are required into any of the allegations relating to mutilated cats.’ 

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