Fletcher, One of the Cats Abducted from Bramley Crescent, Is Killed by a Motorist in Corhampton

"It makes me really angry at what has happened."
-- Kelly Went

Fletcher is dead. Kelly Went's two-year-old ginger tom was found dead last week on the doorstep of a house in Corhampton. It is believed that he was killed by a motorist. (See photos above and below.)

Fletcher was one of at least eight cats that disappeared during September and October from Bramley Crescent in the Sholing district of Southampton. The fate of the other seven cats remains unknown.

In an anonymous epistle sent to the Southern Daily Echo last month, a bird lover confessed to having trapped six of the missing cats and then dumping them twenty-five miles away. The writer maintained that he or she was justified in doing so because the cats were killing birds and digging up gardens. (See Cat Defender post of October 30, 2007 entitled "Crafty Bird Lover Claims Responsibility for Stealing Six Cats from a Southampton Neighborhood and Concealing Their Whereabouts.")

Fletcher's death is particularly heartbreaking for the twenty-nine-year-old Went. After weeks of putting up posters and passing out fliers without any success, she had been buoyed in recent weeks by several reported sightings of Fletcher in a field in Corhampton. Unfortunately, all attempts to corral him failed.

Went, who collected Fletcher and buried him in her back yard, is justifiably perturbed at the way she and her cat have been treated. "It makes me really angry at what has happened," she told the Southern Daily Echo on November 10th. (See "Heartbreak as Catnapped Fletcher Is Found Dead.")

To make matters worse, her nine-year-old black cat, Spoon, who is believed to have been stolen by the bird-loving psychopath, is still missing. Went has not, however, given up looking for him.

"I shall be putting up posters in the Corhampton area in the hope he might be recognized," she told the Southern Daily Echo.

When the catnappings first became public, Inspector Andrew Timms of the Hampshire Constabulary promised prompt action but apparently little or nothing has been done to either locate the missing cats or to bring the perpetrator to justice. Instead, Went and the other aggrieved cat owners have been left to search for their cats on their own.

The letter sent to the local rag contained several tidbits of incriminating information that should have been sufficient for the peelers to have made an arrest by now if they were interested in cracking the case. More importantly, the fact that Fletcher was found only fourteen miles from his home tends to lend credence to the abductor's claims.

The truly sad part of this story is that Fletcher might still be alive today if the police had given Went the assistance that she so desperately needed and deserved. Worst still, more cats will surely die while they sit on their hands goofing off and doing nothing.

Contrary to what cops all over the world believe, there is more to wearing a badge and carrying a gun than taking bribes and beating up on minorities and the poor. Marked indifference to the crimes perpetrated against animals and Mother Earth are two additional black marks against the so-called law enforcement community.

Photos: Daily Mail.