Laura Kay, from Richmond, has been receiving a stream of disturbing phone calls since October, with youths claiming to have stolen and tortured her missing cat, Watson, to death. The callers have taunted her with threats, demanding £10,000 for the return of her pet.
This follows a similar case reported earlier this week, where Natalie Cartwright from Loxley was also harassed by boys who claimed to have “smashed her cat’s head in with bricks” and made meowing sounds over the phone. However, Laura’s harassment has been ongoing for over a month, starting on October 4, when she first received calls from withheld numbers. The callers, laughing, described the gruesome killing of her cat. In just the first two days, Laura received four calls on one day and seven the next, with the calls continuing weekly.
“They described what they said they were going to do with him, and it’s stuck quite firmly in my mind,” Laura said. “It’s escalated to where they threatened to send photos and videos of them setting my cat on fire.”
The harassment took an even darker turn when the callers demanded a ransom of £10,000 to return Watson. “It’s so far beyond what is normal behavior,” Laura continued. “They’re using a missing pet as something to latch onto because it’s a vulnerability and using it for kicks and giggles.”
Watson, a male tabby, disappeared in early October, prompting Laura to post flyers around Sheffield with her phone number in hopes of finding him. Unlike Natalie, Laura did not share her number on missing pet Facebook pages but included it on the flyers she distributed.
“I’m just desperate to get my cat back,” Laura said. “It’s honestly affected my mental health. It’s been an extremely difficult time with him gone as it is. I’ve started screening my calls because if someone’s calling and I don’t recognize the number, there’s a chance it’s someone who knows where Watson is.”
South Yorkshire Police has been contacted for confirmation on whether they are investigating both cases together.
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