Family heartbroken over ‘cat poisoning’

Michelle Palmer Wheeler said her cat Duchess, who she had owned for ten-and-a-half years, was found dead on September 5, after she believes it was poisoned. Her other cat, Patches, was also found, suffering from kidney and liver failure and is now recovering.

Michelle, who lives in the Peasey Hill area of Malton, said the family was “absolutely heartbroken”.

“We’d had Duchess since she was a kitten and she was the gentlest and most loving cat ever,” she said.

Duchess’s brother, Duke, was found dead in March 2014, amidst a flurry of suspected poisoning incidents.

At the time, the Gazette & Herald reported that Duchess and the family’s other cat, O’Malley, had been targeted in a series of incidents dating back to 2006.

According to an RSPCA officer at the time of the 2014 incidents, it was believed the cats were being sprayed with a farm chemical.

Michelle said the incident wasn’t a one-off and that her own cats and neighbours’ animals have been affected. “At least 15 cats have been poisoned and 30 have gone missing in one area of Peasey Hill over the past 15 years,” she said.

A post on Michelle’s social media has attracted more than 200 comments, and Michelle added that many people have contacted her to say their cats were also poisoned while living in the area.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said there had been a two-week investigation into the death of Duchess and Patches.

“Tests carried out by vets on both cats found there was no evidence to suggest they were poisoned - police enquiries also came to the same conclusion.

“Our thoughts are with the owner at this distressing time,” said the police spokesman.

However, Michelle said that all the signs do in fact point to poison, and that the vets did suspect it.

“The vets do indeed think it is poison,” she said.

“The kidney and liver failure, the vomiting, the fact they had no signs of any illness, no injury etc. It all points to poison.”