Police probe Castlewellan ‘poisoned’ cats

Police probe Castlewellan ‘poisoned’ cats

16 October 2019

FEARS are mounting that a number of cats in the Castlewellan area may have been poisoned with anti-freeze.

A number of incidents at the Corry Wood Park area of the town have sparked the alarm with owners of three cats who died revealing that the family pets writhed in agony, had dilated eyes and lost control of their legs after becoming suddenly sick over the past week.

Police confirmed last night that an investigation into the suspected poisoning of four cats was ongoing — two of which needed to be euthanised due to organ failure. One is still receiving treatment.

In addition, Animal Welfare is carrying out post mortems on pets owned by two women who live within 50 metres of each other in the Corry Wood Park area.

The most recent cat to die was six-year-old Willow owned by local hairdresser Jolene Ritchie.

Willow died overnight on Monday at Newcastle’s Donard Veterinary Clinic after being found “wailing in agony” at Ms Ritchie’s Mill Hill home around 10pm.

She said that the family dog Molly alerted them that something was wrong outside.

“Our dog was going mad and seemed to want us to go to the back door. As soon as my partner went out to check, he heard Willow crying in the driveway behind our house,” said Ms Ritchie.

“Our neighbour helped to wrap her in a sweater and initially we thought she had been hit by a car. She was covered in muck and wailing in agony and moving really in a weird way. Her eyes were massive and one was really red.”

Ms Ritchie said that Willow could not stand up so they rushed her to the vet whose initial exam could not find any bone breaks. The cat had no balance and no orientation when she tried to move, added Ms Ritchie.

“The vet thought by looking at it her it could have been down to air toxins. She had to take bloods and put a drip in and we knew that something was really wrong for her not to even move when all that was going on. I was told her blood results were through the roof. It was so hard to see Willow like that as she was so vulnerable.”

The cat was kept in overnight but when Jolene rang first thing on Monday, she was told the sad news that Willow did not make it through the night.

Ms Ritchie is convinced that her cat was deliberately poisoned and fears that antifreeze may have left out for cats to ingest.

She said: “A post mortem is being carried so we can find out what poisoned her. My neighbour’s cat also took suddenly ill but he was at home and was able to spot the signs and get her help early.

“My wee cat had been out all day and was trying to get back home to us. At least we did get to try and help her and she didn’t die in a ditch somewhere.”

Ms Ritchie says that while she is still grieving, her anger is mounting at the thought of someone local causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. 

“I really can’t see this as accidental,” she declared. “I hope that by making this public I can warn other cat owners of the possibility that this could be happening.”

After Ms Ritchie posted her warning on The Local Newcastle Facebook page on Monday, she was stunned to find that a woman from a neighbouring estate had a similar experience with her pets.

Anne Kane from Castlehill had two cats, a 13 month-old tuxedo cat called Merlin and a three year-old tortoiseshell called Twilight, who both suddenly became ill with a week of each other.

She said that Merlin had to be euthanised two days after he suddenly got sick only for the same thing to happened to Twilight several days later.

“I don’t know if this was deliberate poisoning as we have to wait on post mortem results on Twilight but it does seem strange how it has happened in one area over the last week,” said Ms Kane.

“I just can’t believe it could be possible for someone to want to cause such suffering to an animal.

“My poor son has been traumatised over the death of Merlin who had to be euthanised due to kidney failure but I would to say that the empathy showed at Castle Veterinary Group was wonderful.”

Police have appealed for information and anyone with information are asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 1102 14/10/19.