Doncaster pet owner's cat-napper fear

The mum of one, who did not wish to be named, contacted The Star after two men were seen acting suspiciously outside her Thellusson Avenue home in Scawsby.

She explained: “I’ve got a pedigree Persian long haired cat called Charlie, he’s one and a half years old.

“He shouldn’t really be outside but I don’t believe in keeping animals locked up so I let him go out into the garden and I keep an eye on him.

“On Saturday at about 5pm I realised that I hadn’t seen him for about an hour so I had a look round my neighbours gardens but he wasn’t there.

“I went round the front of my house and there was a man walking on the other side of the street, I thought this was strange as the road is a crescent so there’s nowhere for people to go, you only ever see people you know down there.”

She described the man as bald and aged around 30 to 40 and said that he was walking very slowly and standing at the end of everyone’s drives before moving on, as if looking for something.

She continued: “He suddenly waved his hand in the air towards a white estate car at the end of the street and this car started kerb crawling behind the man. They just looked very suspicious.

“He then went into the garden of the old people’s home on the street and pointed again and that’s when I realised that‘s where Charlie was and they were trying to snatch him. I shouted him and he bolted out of the garden and the men disappeared.

“I’m just worried now that these men know where I live and might come back for him.”

Katy Geary from Cats Protection said there are a number of things that cat owners can do to help minimise the chances of their pets becoming a target. These include: keeping cats indoors at night; and ensuring cats can be identified – either by easy release collar or better still by microchip. She said: “If you notice that people are acting suspiciously in your area then we advise (if it is safe to do so) making note of the following: description of the individual/s, times and description of when suspicious activity took place, number plate/description of car (if relevant). This information can then be passed to police and/or RSPCA. You may also want to speak to your community police officer to make them aware of your concerns.”