AN ANIMAL WELFARE charity has said it fears for the lives of 16 cats that have gone missing from a single neighbourhood since November.

The Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA) said that the recent spate of missing cat reports dates back to November, with the owners all living in the Westbury area of Cookstown, Co Tyrone.

Siobhan McHaffie, Director of Operations at the USPCA, told The Journal that the charity first became aware of the mystery disappearances when owners began reaching out for help locating their beloved pets.

“It’s really just been that local people have been reporting it mostly on the pet ‘lost and found’ pages and things like that,” she said.

“Then it turned into lots more people saying ‘well mine’s gone missing too’ and so up to the point where, at the minute, what’s being reported is there are sixteen pet cats that have gone missing, and just in the one area.”

The PSNI have confirmed that they are aware of the incidents, but did not go as far as confirming a criminal investigation.

A spokesperson for the force said in a statement: “Police are aware of concerns circulating online of a number of cats going missing in the Westbury area of Cookstown.

The figure of sixteen cats, the spokesperson said, “is not reflective of reports made to police”.

“Anyone with any concerns regarding any connected criminality or who has information not shared with police, should contact them on 101.”

McHaffie says it is “massively concerning” that such an unprecedented number of missing cat reports have come from the same neighbourhood.

One theory she put forward is that the cats could be used as live bait in a process known as “blooding” whereby dogs being trained to fight are handed a defenceless cat to kill, giving the dog a taste for blood.

She says this would not be the first instance of cats being used as bait in Northern Ireland for this purpose.

In 2014, the USPCA assisted the PSNI in raiding an east Belfast property where three men were arrested and charged with animal cruelty offences, including the act of throwing a pet cat to a pack of marauding fighting dogs.

McHaffie also fears intentional poisoning of the cats could be at play. 

“Sometimes it’s that there’s somebody that’s nearby that really doesn’t like cats. They could be leaving poison down.”

She added that it can be difficult to determine whether missing cats have been stolen or are simply hiding away after being poisoned, considering they typically retreat when suffering from injury or sickness.

“If you poison cats, a lot of the time they will tend to just take themselves away off and hide if they don’t feel well or they’re really ill.”

They may then die from the effects of the poison and never be found by their owners. 

McHaffie urges people to contact the police if they think cats in the area are systematically going missing because they will investigate.

“Do pick up phone and contact the police or the guards because they will follow up, and especially if they start to see a pattern emerging like that, then they they’ll absolutely follow up.”