A cat-lover is urging owners to keep their pets indoors after what she believes is a spate of thefts around the Pinchbeck area.
Sally Woods says she has been made aware of up to ten grey tabby cats which have gone missing in the past few weeks after starting a Facebook appeal to find her own six-year-old pet.
Purdy, who Sally says could be mistaken for a pedigree Bengal cat, went out a week ago last Friday and never returned. Sally said it was totally out of character for the family pet, who had a special “house” outside the family’s home in Porthouse Drive and never ventured further than the back garden.
Sally said: “We are all really missing him and are absolutely gutted.
“I don’t want anyone else to go through the same so I would advise other cat owners in Pinchbeck, particularly those with grey tabby cats, to keep them indoors because there is definitely something suspicious going on.
“My ten-year-old son is devastated and even our Bassett Hound seems to be missing him.”
Sally put up missing posters around the village and posted notes through people’s doors, as well as asking for users of the Facebook group Buy It, Sell It, Swap It Spalding to keep an eye out for Purdy.
She says she has since heard stories of other “stay-at-home” pets disappearing and one girl even told her that her sister’s cat was found for sale on a website after going missing from home.
Sally has now offered a £50 reward for the return of her moggy, but said she is not very hopeful of being reunited.
She said: “It just seems really strange to me that I have spoken to all these people and have heard of all these cats going missing and they all seem to be the same colour.
“I have called all the vets and done everything I can to find Purdy.
“We were woken by a noise the night he went missing but when there was no other sound we went back to sleep. I don’t if that was someone taking him but it is definitely suspicious.”
But Lincolnshire Police claim there have been no reports of cats being stolen in Pinchbeck and said the rumours could be similar to ones recently circulating about dogs being stolen to order, which were a hoax and promoted an atmosphere of fear among pet owners.