Cat attacks ‘too suspicious to be coincidence’

Billy Elliot, senior animal rescue officer at WADARS, which covers Littlehampton and the surrounding area, said attacks against animals often happened in clusters.

He said: “Usually these are isolated situations, so it makes it more suspicious when there’s a group of them happening.

“Cats are free to roam and go in people’s gardens or properties.

“There are some people who don’t like that. But shooting or poisoning a cat is like using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

“Cats can easily be deterred with a hose or by clanging pots.”

As well as being poisoned deliberately, Billy said it was also possible a person was laying poisons down for rats or foxes.

He added: “Poisons are horrible things and they often fail to get the species they were meant for.”