‘A campaign of cat poisoning’ in Strabane

A Tyrone man believes that a cruel campaign of cat poisoning is being carried out near his home, after his mother’s 13-month-old tabby became the latest to die under suspicious circumstances.

Thomas Callaghan, a local of Glebe, a village near Sion Mills, has said that over the last 18 months five cats have perished in unusual – but similar – circumstances in the locality.

“Two or three deaths might be explained by a freak coincidence, but, for me, that explanation falls apart when you look at the true number, which is at least five.

“Somebody is up to something,” said Thomas, speaking with the TyroneHerald earlier this week.

When, in the early hours of Monday last (May 29), 66-year-old Elizabeth Callaghan’s cat did not come home, she took to the streets of Glebe Gardens looking for him.

Explaining, Thomas said, “Socks was a wee house cat – once he was out, it was never long before he was back. When 3am came and he still wasn’t home, my mother got very worried.”

He continued, “When I got back from my work on Monday, I went out looking for him and was told by a neighbour that there was a cat matching Socks’ description lying in a nearby entry.

“When I got there, I found Socks lying there lifeless. Apart from the vomit around his mouth, he was looked the same as he always did.”

Thomas started asking around, and found that over the last year and a half several other cats had turned up dead in strangely close proximity to where Socks was found.

“As well as those two cats, two more were found dead not far away, and another neighbour said that after her cat had become very sick, she took it to the doctor and was informed that there was some kind of poison in its bloodstream.

“Some people have said that there could be something in the environment that is doing it, maybe something in a nearby field.

“Others have said perhaps there are some toxic plants around, or maybe the cats have been eating rats that have been poisoned, but I don’t know. It seems very suspicious to me.”

Thomas warned people in the area to look after their pets as much as possible, however, he acknowledged that a cat’s nature makes this difficult.

“At the end of the day, once it’s out, a cat is going to do what a cat is going to do.

“I just hope that there is not foul play at work, but I have serious doubts about that,” concluded Thomas.