Woman's shock at finding 16 dead cats in pond

Warning: This story contains distressing details

A woman has spoken of her "shock" and horror at how a search for her two missing cats led her to discover them dead in a pond, with the remains of other cats.

Paula Singleton, from Canley, Coventry, said she had posted an appeal for help on social media when her one-year-old cat Gingernut went missing. Two weeks later, her older cat Clyde also did not return home.

After being told a dead cat had been seen in a pond at an empty property in Howcotte Green, she ended up trawling the water on Sunday and finding the remains of about 16 cats, some of which were just skulls.

The RSPCA, which is leading an investigation supported by West Midlands Police, said it was "very concerned".

Singleton, who has owned cats for years, said the experience had been extremely upsetting and left her in tears.

She said Gingernut had gone missing first, which was very unusual.

"He's a very homely boy, so when he didn't come back we knew there was something wrong."

She did not get a response to her Facebook post or to one about her four-year-old cat Clyde when he "did exactly the same".

"Again, no response. No-one sees them, which is the strange part about it," she said.

"If you see a sighting at least there is some hope, but there was no sightings of either of them."

She said after someone had knocked on her door to say they had seen a dead cat, she went to the garden herself.

"When I went in I could see that there was more than one dead cat floating," Singleton said.

She explained the fish pond was not "your average garden pond" and was about 20ft (6m) by 10ft (3m) and 6ft deep.

She said the scene she found was "just awful, absolutely awful".

It was not just the sight, "it was the smell, it was the whole situation around it, it was just horrendous", she added.

"As I was retrieving the cats I noticed things were coming up through the water.

"I went and got a fishing net, because I've got a little tank, and when I got it out I noticed it was the head of a cat, like a skull, and I noticed they were floating up and I retrieved around 11 [of them]."

She said she felt "panic and shock" and in the end, found the remains of about 16 cats.

"I think I went into shock for about two days. I just didn't want to leave them there. It's sad, very sad."

The RSPCA said it was making inquiries in the area and appealed for people to help with its investigation.

"We're very concerned about the discovery of deceased cats and our thoughts are with the owners," a spokesperson for the RSPCA said.

"We're investigating and are asking anyone with evidence or information to contact us on 0300 123 8018 quoting incident number 01804675."

West Midlands Police said in a statement: "We were called to a vacant property in Howcotte Green, Coventry, earlier this week after the remains of a number of cats were found.

"We are working with partners including Coventry City Council and the RSPCA, who are leading the investigation."

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