Sussex Police have arrested a local man in connection with the cat murders in Brighton, following a breakthrough in the longstanding investigation: Operation Diverge.
Officers were alerted that a cat had been injured near Trafalgar Street in Brighton last Saturday (1st of June). Sadly, the cat was found with serious wounds and unfortunately has since died.
The investigation response quickly found and secured CCTV footage in the area. After this was viewed, a local 52-year old man was arrested on Sunday (2nd of June). The man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and weapon in a public place and has been released on bail until the 28th of June.
Justice
Unfortunately, as cats are regarded as personal property, the consequence for the killer is likely to remain only as criminal damage.
Seanin Mouland, whose beloved cat Sampson was killed last year, has set up a petition asking the government to “Change The Law On Cat Attacks and Killings”. He states:
“Cats are not property, they are family, and this policy renders their attempted murders equable to damage of furniture.”
If you wish to sign the petition the link is available here.
Leading officer Detective Inspector Chris Thomson has said:
“We were made aware of a cat death and officers conducted a quick-time investigation to establish the circumstances.
“The arrested man has been released on police bail while enquiries are continuing.
“We are keen to trace a witness who we believe may hold vital information to our investigation. He is a white man, around 5’ 8”, in his 20s or 30s, of medium build, with long dark wavy hair and was wearing sunglasses at the time. We believe he may have stroked the cat before it was injured around 7.50pm on Saturday, June 1.
“If this is you please make contact with us.”
“We understand how distressing the deaths of these cats have been to both owners and organisations concerned with animal welfare and we are determined to establish what has happened to them in order to get answers for owners.
“Police resources have been used in the wider investigation in an attempt to establish exactly what has happened to these cats and we are working in partnership with an expert from the Royal Veterinary College to establish the cause of the deaths.
“We increased patrols in and around the areas that the cats have been injured or died, there have been house to house enquiries, we’ve viewed CCTV, taken statements from the owners and anyone who has found an injured or dead cat and continue to speak with anyone who has come forward with information about these incidents.
“We continue to appeal to anyone with information to contact Sussex Police either online or by calling 101 and quoting Operation Diverge.”
If you would like to find out more about the cat killings, the Brighton Journal has been reporting on this case since November last year, links are available here and here.
