Pensioner's cat killed in suspected fox attack
A heartbroken Dundee pensioner has spoken of her horror after her cat was killed by foxes.
- Published in the Courier : 06.05.11
- Published online : 06.05.11 @ 10.47am
Beth Anderson, of Blantyre Place in Downfield, has warned other pet owners to be on their guard after her cat Gary was attacked by two foxes outside her home in the early hours of Monday.
The 69-year-old faced an anxious night of worry when the four-year-old pet failed to return home on Sunday night.
Retired Mrs Anderson, who adopted the black-and-white cat over three years ago, searched for her pet the next morning before she made a grisly discovery in her garden.
Mrs Anderson said she was horrified after finding the animal's remains, including part of its tail, strewn across the grass.
"He wasn't there on Sunday night, which is unusual because he always comes in about 11pm," she said. "I went to bed about midnight and I thought I would hear him coming in.
"I woke up around 5am and he still wasn't home. I got up again at 7.30am and went into the garden. That is when I saw it. All his white hair was lying all over the garden and then I found part of his tail.
"My next door neighbour came over to tell me he had seen two foxes attack something that night. He had heard a screech and looked out the window but he didn't realise it was Gary."
More of the animal's remains were also discovered by a neighbour across the road on Tuesday.
Mrs Anderson said foxes were a common sight in the area and voiced concerns about the safety of other domestic pets.
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said, "Foxes can be quite common in urban areas as they tend to find sources of food. Attacks on humans and pets are thankfully extremely rare but we would always recommend that people do not feed foxes as this may encourage them to enter gardens and homes."
05.43pm - 06.05.2011 John - Aberdeen, Scotland Report This
The cat called Gary will have killed thousands of birds and small animals in its lifetime and it was killed in the same way. Cat's are not cuddly, they are vicious killers and another vicious killer killed this one, that isn't news.
08.46pm - 06.05.2011 Hamish - Dunfermline, Scotland Report This
Its rare for a fox to attack a cat, its rare for them to leave anything behind either. A fox will find it much easier to get his next meal from a bin than risking attacking an animal like a cat of which can do just as much damage.
11.46am - 07.05.2011 Bob - dundee, scotland Report This
Cats kill millions of garden birds and we're told that they're just following their natural instinct ( although in nature there would never be so many cats in a small area). Good to see the fox following it's natural instinct and dispatching the cat. Garden birds have one less cat to worry about.
03.17pm - 15.05.2011 Jenny Smith - Dundee, Scotland Report This
At this time of year, fox cubs are around two months old and play very vocally. Chances are the neighbour heard two cubs playing. The cat was probably killed on the road and the foxes took the remains. This is how so many misunderstandings of fox behaviour arise.
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