RESIDENTS in Thurrock have been alerted to the potential presence in the borough of a cat killer after the discovery of a mutilated family pet.

Chadwell St Mary resident Shareen Brown has revealed the horrific news that her family's much-love pet cat, Wotsit, was discovered dead on Thursday (17 April) on the playing fields between Brentwood Road and Aluric Close.

The pet had been stabbed multiple times and had been decapitated, with the head taken away from the scene and it has yet to be recovered. The appalling sight was first seen by another resident who discovered the body and called in  animal charity Pippa's army which was able to identify the cat's owners by a micro chip reading.

The body of the cat was initially taken to a nearby vet's surgery which described the 'butchering' of the animal as being done by someone 'who knew what they were doing and has probably done it before', says Shareen.

The body has been returned to the devastated family and police have been informed.

Shareen has also been in touch with a London-based animal charity, the South London Animal Investigation, who say this is not the first such incident recently reported, with a number taking place in East London.

Shareen Brown

She told Thurrock Nub News: "It's been done before, it was done with precision, they knew exactly what they were doing. The head is still missing.

"Where he was found wasn't where he was killed, there was very little blood there. It seems whoever did this then put it in a public place where it would be found.,

"The investigation team at the charity say they have been geographically profiling the activities of the person doing this and it's spreading wider. People need to know about this.

"What Wotsit went through when being killed is awful and it has completely devastated myself, my children and my family."

The incident has sparked memories of 'The Croydon Cat Killer' following a significant number of reported animal deaths that started in 2014 and carried on with a wave of discoveries of animal that appeared to have been killed, dismembered and decapitated. More than 400 such incidents were eventually reported over a four year period, with cat deaths attributed to the killer spread across and around London.

However, in 2018, the Metropolitan Police concluded that the mutilations had not been carried out by a human and were likely caused by wildlife predation or scavenging on cats killed in vehicle collisions.

But that view remains disputed, with another animal charity SNARL (South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty), along with pet owners and treating vets, still maintaining the cats were killed by a human and later predated by animals, such as foxes.

Thurrock Nub News has contacted Essex Police for a comment.