Fury after thugs ‘tie rockets to cat’ and set them off

A cat owner has been left devastated after claiming that one of the animals was found dead near her home having had rockets tied to it and set off by sadists.

Sam Copeland-Whelan, who lives in Alvaston, Derbyshire, came across the distressed animal on Saturday afternoon, which had initially been found by her brother.

Ms Copeland-Whelan was warned to keep her own pets safe after her brother found the animal, and the duo phoned an emergency vet to try and safe the cat, which died before it could be helped.

Ms-Copeland-Whelan’s brother told her that the cat’s far had been blown off and he believes the cat was pinnned down and had the rockets attached to its body.

She told her local paper the Derby Telegraph: “How a so-called human being can do this to a cat is absolutely beyond me. It’s vile.

“If anybody did anything like that to my cats I would be absolutely destroyed.”

She added: “It’s one of those things that nobody can understand. It’s really shocked him. He did the right thing by phoning the vets. It’s an absolute tragedy. It’s making me sick thinking that somebody is out there doing that sort of thing.

“The vet told my brother the cat was micro-chipped, so they are in the process of finding the owner. My thoughts are with them because this is so bad.”

Derbyshire police appealed for members of the public to contact them on 101 if they know who is responsible or if they saw the incident taking place.