Stoke councillor gets police warning after two cats mauled by her dog
A Stoke-on-Trent councillor has been issued a warning by police after her dog mauled a cat.
A woman says her cat was chased off Cllr Janine Bridges farmland and savaged by her dog.
Marie Castrey, 63, said her pet Elsa was so badly injured that she had to make the heartbreaking decision to have her put down - for which Cllr Bridges footed the bill.
Staffordshire Police issued the elected member for Great Chell and Packmoor with a "community protection warning", which can be issued if police "believe a person's behaviour is having a detrimental impact on the local community."
A similar incident involving the cabinet member's dog happened in June last year, when it mauled a cat it had chased, which also resulted in police speaking to her.
Cllr Bridges said she was "very upset" to learn Mrs Castrey's cat had since died, as "her injuries did not seem too severe at the time."
She added that the dogs are working dogs to help keep rodent numbers down so no poison would have to be used.
The councillor - who is also known by her married name Taylor - said cats regularly get onto the farmland for hunting and had killed chickens, ducklings and pigeons.
She has since announced she will retire from the farm after 'vilification and trolling' on Facebook.
Mrs Castrey lives nearby on Samuel Street, and believes the dog responsible for mauling Elsa should be put down. She said: “The dog just grabbed her, dragged and ragged her. She was panting and was in so much stress. I had to rush her to the vets, she had scans, an x-ray and injections.
"She was sent home but she never ate or drank from that day on. The woman who owns the dogs gave me the money for the vet bill.“As the week went on, I had to take her back to the vets and they said she was full of infection. The bite marks were so deep.
"She smelt like rotting meat, she was rotting. They had to put her to sleep.“I'd like to see that dog put down."
Social media manager Rebecca Frost saw her cat Damien mauled in a similar manner in June last year.She said she found a man holding her injured cat near her home on Samuel Street after hearing "a growl and a shriek."
The man reportedly told Mrs Frost: "I’m sorry a dog’s just mauled this cat'. We took him to the emergency vets but he died in my arms on the way."Mrs Frost says she wants cats to be safe in the area: "I don’t like the idea of animals being put down but I don't like the idea of them being savaged either. We need to be safe, our cats need to be safe.”
Cllr Bridges - who footed Mrs Castrey's vet bill - says that her three older dogs are “too fat to get out of the farmyard”, but that the youngest is able to scale the wall that leads to the alleyway and street. She added: “Cats regularly get into the farmyard to hunt. To date this year they have killed five chickens, two ducklings and their mother, and four pigeons. They hunt in the straw shed.“In the most recent incident, the young dog, which had been walked on a lead into the farmyard, was released to work. She entered the straw shed, chased the cat out and over the wall into the street.“The cat could not take refuge in her normal tree as it was slippery and it was snowing heavily at the time and blowing a 55mph gale. The dog chased and caught her at the pharmacy.“The dog was caught as soon as possible and the cat was returned to her owner. After securing the dog I called at the house to inform Mrs Castrey that I would pay all vet bills for the cat, which I have done, a total of £819.11.“It has since transpired that the cat died of sepsis. I was very upset as the injuries did not seem too severe at the time and the vet released the cat home with antibiotics.”With regards to the incident last June, Cllr Bridges says she was not aware of the identity of the owner of the cat until now.She said: “They did not approach us at the time. The police visited the day after the attack, issued a formal warning for the dog, inspected all the dogs and ruled they were not a danger to the public and issued us with a police and council notice to secure all access routes to and from the farmyard with suitably meshed gates.""After Facebook trolling and vilification we will retire and sell out the farmyard for conversion to a scrapyard.”Staffordshire Police said it could find no record of the case involving Mrs Frost’s pet. In relation to the attack on Marie's cat, a police spokesman said: "Officers issued a community protection warning to a woman after a dog attacked a cat on Friday 10 March in Stoke-on-Trent.“No further incidents have since been reported."