A FAMILY has been devastated after their much-loved pet cat was apparently kicked to death in a senseless attack.

Gillian Allan of The Meadows, Seaton, near Seaham, said their pedigree cat Leo had gone missing from home on Saturday evening and was later dead found on popular bridleway nearby.

A post mortem found the black tipped British shorthair cat had severe internal injuries probably caused by hard kicks.

Mrs Allan said: "We have had Leo for six years. My daughter Abbey was absolutely distraught.

"It's bad enough losing your cat, but when you find out someone has gone out of their way and deliberately kicked your cat to death for no apparent reason, it is sickening."

She added: "When Leo went missing we reported it to our local vet and Abbey put it on Facebook.

"It wasn’t until Tuesday that somebody contacted us and she had spotted a cat fitting his description dead in the bushes near the footpath on Sunday.

"There wasn't any visible sign of an attack by a dog or fox, so I took him to Seaham Vets to carry out a post mortem to see if he had perhaps been poisoned.

"The vet came back and said she had found Leo had severe internal injuries with horrific bleeding and swelling of the heart. In her opinion he had been kicked hard.

"His downfall he was such a friendly cat and probably went up to whoever attacked him.

"I am absolutely disgusted with what has happened. I cannot believe that someone would do that to a defenceless animal."

  • Mrs Allan has contacted the police are looking into the matter. Incidents of animal cruelty can be reported to the RSPCA hotline 0300 1234 999.