Another suspicious cat death has been reported in Edmonton following previous incidents in Winchmore Hill, reports James Cracknell

A cat looks out of a window — credit Serhat Beyazkaya via Unsplash

A pet detective who’s been investigating a serial cat killer for a decade has warned owners in North London to keep their feline friends indoors at night.

The warning comes after another dead cat was discovered with its tail missing in Edmonton – a calling card for the kitty killer suspected of murdering hundreds of pets since 2015.

Last month, the Dispatch reported that the RSPCA was appealing for information regarding a “mutilated” cat with its tail missing in Winchmore Hill, with three other fatalities in the area also suspected of being linked to the same killer.

This week, a member of a group dedicated to investigating suspicious animal deaths has said the recent incidents in Enfield borough are likely to be the work of a kitty killer linked to a staggering 800 deaths over a decade.

Boudicca Rising, founder of South London Animal Investigation Network (Slain), explained that the killer in question often committed crimes in “clusters”, targeting a specific area over a few weeks. The culprit was originally dubbed the ‘Croydon Cat Killer‘ after targeting that part of South London but cases have since been spread across a wide area of south-east England and even beyond.

It now seems North London is being targeted, Boudicca told the Dispatch.

“It has been going on since 2015,” she said. “While some incidents might be down to road traffic accidents, some are clearly not – body parts have sometimes turned up six months later.

“We think around 800 cats have been killed over nine years. We have either got a group pretending to be one person or it is someone who is very prolific.

“It happens in spurts and in clusters, and at the moment it is North London and East London.”

The most recent case involved a ginger and white coloured cat that was found dead without its tail in Stanley Road, Edmonton, on Monday 28th April.

“Most of the incidents happen at night,” Boudicca said. “It is difficult to keep cats indoors but keeping them in at night is the most important thing.

“We don’t care who catches this killer, if it is the RSPCA or us, but if someone contacts us we will work with people and we are proactive. When we receive information, we pass it on to our patrollers.

“We have got an active suspect we are working on at the moment but we have had many false dawns over the years.”

Anyone with information on suspicious cat deaths can contact Boudicca and Slain directly:
Call 07957 830 490
Email [email protected]

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.