Telford woman's warning after pet cat 'kicked to death'

Tess Hutchinson's cat eight-month-old cat Mocha went missing two weeks ago.

The cat's body was found by a council worker who told Mrs Hutchinson their pet had not been hit by a car, but had been kicked to death.

Mrs Hutchinson, from Hadley, said: "He went out last a week on a Sunday and that was the last we saw of him.

"We put on groups on Facebook that he was missing, and if anyone had seen him to get in touch.

"We phoned vets to see if he had been taken in there, he wasn't there so they put him on a missing list.

"We phoned the council to see if they had picked up any cats but nothing.

"Then on Friday my son had a phone call from the council saying they had picked up a black cat from Church Street, two streets up from mine.

"The council man said he hadn't been run over but had been kicked to death."

The 44-year-old moved to her home in Telford three years ago with their cat Sweep, who also fell victim to an attack, but made it home and was successfully treated by a vet at the time.

Mrs Hutchinson said the attack has left the family stunned.

"It's not a one-off thing. Someone is targeting cats," she said.

Their cat Mocha was bought for Mrs Hutchinson's daughter-in-law Jade Rowberry after she had a miscarriage.

Mrs Hutchinson said: "Jade's in bits, she has not stopped crying yet and it's heartbreaking to see her like this, she had started moving on and now it's like she's back to where she was before Mocha.

"We have got her a new kitten in the hope of helping again, but she's saying she shouldn't have let Mocha out, she's really upset and angry that she couldn't say goodbye to him."

Mrs Hutchinson and her family want to warn others to be aware of this type of crime around Telford, especially the Hadley area.

She said: "We as a family just want to make people aware and to keep their cats safe until this person is caught.

"If it saves just one cat from getting kicked to death like Mocha then it's worth doing this."