'Aggressive' cat 'kidnapped by vigilante' who releases pictures of it locked in cage

Pet accused of attacking other cats and invading gardens in leafy Georgian streets of Clifton in Bristol is 'kidnapped' as warning to owners

Murray the cat  Photo: SWNS

By Agency

17 Jun 2015

A suburb is in shock after an "aggressive" cat was apparently kidnapped by a vigilante - who then released pictures of it trapped in a cage. The pet, called Murray, has been accused of attacking other cats and invading gardens in the leafy Georgian streets of Clifton, Bristol.

^{Murray the cat (SWNS)}
 

But after the cat went missing, his owner was horrified to find posters on lampposts with a picture of Murray behind bars. The poster reads: "If this is your cat please do the right thing and have him neutered. No harm has come to this cat, however the cat trap will continue to be set to try and deter him." Murray returned home traumatised by his experience and afraid of humans, according to his owner who is known only as Antonio.

He said: "There are images of Murray in a cage and he looks very distressed. I can't believe they really trapped him in the cage. The worrying thing is that I have no idea how long he was in the cage or what happened to him when he was in there. "Whoever it is says they are going to continue to trap him in there. What if he ends up stuck in there all day in the sun with no food or water? Murray has been neutered. He's not aggressive. We've never had a problem with his before - neither has anyone else. We've got a nine-year-old cat too and they get on well together. We can't keep Murray inside as that would be cruel but we are now worried if he stays out for more than a day he could be trapped in the cage. My fiancee and I are very upset."

Murray briefly went missing last week before returning to his owners scared of people, which Antonio claims is unusual. The cat then stopped eating food, leading the couple to believe he was unwell and needed attention from a vet. But as they left the house to have him checked over, they were greeted by the "distressing" posters showing Murray trapped. He has responded by replacing the posters with one of his own, urging the mystery person to come forward.

_{Antonio replaced the posters with one of his own (PA)}
 
The police and the RSPCA have been alerted to the posters and the RSPCA says it takes any matters involving animal welfare extremely seriously. A man claiming responsibility for the trap came forward to insist that he was acting to protect his own cat.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he only set the trap as a last resort so he could take Murray to the vets in an attempt to track his owner. "I'm an animal lover, first and foremost. It pains me more to see animals suffering than it does humans. My cat in animal years is 78 years old. I have lived in at this address for 14 years. My cat has befriended many cats over the years. This new cat arrived and it's doing what cats do, I understand that. But it's particularly aggressive, I have never seen a cat like this. With the advice of a local cat charity, I set the cat trap to take the cat to a local vet so they could try and contact its owner. No harm has come to this cat. I wouldn't wish any harm on any animal but I felt I needed to stick up for my cat. People have been very judgemental and full of hate."

The man said the trap would be returned to the charity it came from, and he would not be attempting to cage Murray again. He said: "I'm really hoping that nature will just run its course and the cat will lose interest or they will learn to get along. I think this has been unfairly portrayed and I was just trying to protect my own cat."

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