Cat owners in Wolverhampton warned to watch out for pet thieves

Worried cat lovers in Wednesfield voiced their fears after sightings of people driving around local suburbs in a silver van and grabbing hold of cats on the streets and throwing them in the back of their vehicle.

Now local councillor Jacqui Coogan, also a cat owner, is warning people in the area to be extra vigilant and look out for anyone snatching the animals off the streets.

She said: “Naturally, I’m absolutely disgusted. I can only think that the perpetrators are doing this with the sole intention of selling the animals on.

“If any Wolverhampton residents are offered these animals as pets for sale, I would urge them to contact the RSPCA straight away with any details they can provide, such as vehicle registration numbers, if they see anyone grabbing cats.

“Then we can ensure that their officers can liaise with the police to make sure this serious issue doesn’t continue.

“My message to people would be to never ever buy a pet from anyone who cannot prove they are not part of a registered animal charity.”

A concerned Wednesfield resident, who did not wish to be named, said he had observed the cat thieves in action and wanted to warn other pet owners in the area to be extra vigilant when letting their pets out.

“Cat thieves seem to have been at work in our area in recent weeks. At least two cats have now gone missing from Hart Road in the village – including one of my own,” he said.

“I have seen two women, one young and an older, larger lady, photographing cats that happen to be out in the street, which seems very odd to me and not quite right.

“That happened on the same day that my cat was seen being loaded into a silver van, which then which made a hasty retreat. Any other cats that are seen in the area could be potential targets.

“I don’t know who these people are or what their motive is, but they don’t seem to belong to any of the local cat rescue charities. None of these own a silver van as far as I’m aware.

“It’s possible they may not be thieves, but people who are mistakenly picking up cats that they think are strays but are in fact people’s pets. However, from what I have seen, they appear to more likely be up to no good,” he added.

Sally Edwards, who owns and runs the Arc Rescue Centre for Cats in Ashmore Park, Wednesfield: said: “This is awful. There are all sorts of cruel things done to cats that I get to hear about, so I’m not sure if this is connected.

“It really worries me if there are people moving around different parts of the city stealing cats for whatever reason. I know for a fact that there have been reports of travellers taking cats to use as dog bait, and also for dog fights.

“Whoever these people are, they could be selling them on. No-one has tried to approach me with any cats but I always keep my eyes open for anything suspicious.”