Gruesome pet murders in Arlesey

CONCERNED residents are to hold a meeting following a series of gruesome pet killings in a town.

Members of Neighbourhood Watch in Arlesey and Bedfordshire Police are to meet following the discovery of the mutilated bodies of cats and dogs.

John Savory, Neighbourhood Watch street co-ordinator for Stotfold Road, Old Oak Close and The Hermitage, is determined to find the person or people responsible.

He said: “It started last month.

“We were having a Neighbourhood Watch meeting and it turned out that Bedfordshire Police had sent a fax to one of our members warning him about pets being abducted from the streets.

“Since then a car was seen driving through the village and the body of a dead dog was seen being thrown out of the boot onto the pavement.

“I also saw the bodies of two dead cats close to St Peter’s Church. One of them had its legs tied together and another had a noose around its neck from when it had been hanged.”

Mr Savory, 59, has also discovered a dead kitten close to The Hermitage where he says other feline bodies have been found.

He added: “I saw it close to the river bank and thought at first that it might have died of natural causes.

“But then I turned it over and it had been horribly mutilated.”

Lifelong Arlesey resident Mr Savory is committed to tracking down the killer.

He said: “This is just inhuman. The person or people who did this needs to be locked up for a very long time. I would appeal to anyone who may have seen anything or who knows anything to contact Bedfordshire Police immediately.

Pets are very precious to people and this is truly horrific.”

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said: “We have only had one confirmed report of the death of a cat but we have nothing to confirm that it was killed, only that it had an injury to its throat.

“Our officers are making enquiries and are talking to people in the village, though we have had no further reports.”

Anyone with any information can contact Bedfordshire Police on 101.