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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that the idea that the Croydon Cat killer is actually a Fox is a load of b*ll**cks

391 replies

mumof2andsurviving · 20/09/2018 22:40

^^just that really. I'm not buying this fox theory. Mutilated cats left on owners doorsteps...don't think even the most intelligent foxes could manage that.

AIBU to feel that either a) the police no longer have resources to spend on this or b) it is a tactic used to try and lull the perpetrator into a false sense of security?

OP posts:
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Original poster
mumof2andsurviving · 21/09/2018 08:52

It doesn’t seem like all these examples can be logically put to foxes but then, who knows how true they all are? Like the collar appearing 6 months later- according to the owner at least. Who knows whether that actually happened or whether they wanted to extend their 5 mins of fame?*

Seriously? You think this is about wanting to extend their fame? So not about people who are traumatised and are being continually traumatised? - just think for a minute about just how scary that must be... not everyone is attention seeking

OP posts:
womanintrousers · 21/09/2018 08:57

Foxes do kill cats, but they eat them, they don’t mutilate them and leave the corpse on the owners doorstep.

53rdWay · 21/09/2018 09:06

I can well believe foxes will scavenge road accident victims. And some of them might well have made it back home before dying and so been scavenged on their doorsteps.

Bit more puzzled though by the mutilated cats that were left in carrier bags on owner’s doorsteps. Foxes don’t usually use carrier bags.

ToadOfSadness · 21/09/2018 09:07

Foxes don't always eat their kill. They can devastate a hen house and leave the bodies behind. A fox killed my rabbit some years ago, opened the hutch and let them out, killed one, there was a gnaw mark on her neck, left her on the lawn. If they are hungry they eat, if they aren't they just kill.

Foxes do not use a sharp knife and neatly remove the head of a cat, ensuring the microchip is also gone, or cut a leg or tail off and remove it, sometimes leaving it on a neighbouring doorstep. Neither do they neatly open up a body, a fox would leave evidence of chewing and tearing, and blood. Don't forget there has been no blood at the scenes.

citiesofbismuth · 21/09/2018 09:07

They’ve probably identified the killer and he’s a police officer or someone in authority whom they have to protect.

ToadOfSadness · 21/09/2018 09:09

Also this thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3371529-SNARL-Update-on-the-news-today

MsOliphant · 21/09/2018 09:09

Not true Toad. They are cachet killers. They mean to come back for that prey but obviously someone disturbs it before they do. They kill more than they can eat with the view of storing it somewhere.

They do not kill for fun. Huge misconception about foxes.

ToadOfSadness · 21/09/2018 09:10

Actually, having said that too, cities, perhaps it might stop if that is the case, because SNARL are not going to stop and if someone else gets hold of the person it won't be pretty.

PiperPublickOccurrences · 21/09/2018 09:11

lot more logical than some sort of mass cover up of cat killings

Totally - people who are thinking it's some high-profile person and it needs to be "covered up" need to give their heads a wobble. really??? Foxes are everywhere, they are brutal and will most definitely chase/hunt cats as I've seen it happen.

And yes - total waste of police resources.

53rdWay · 21/09/2018 09:13

The police aren’t saying foxes are killing them. They’re saying that cars are killing them and foxes are scavenging the corpses.

cadburyegg · 21/09/2018 09:13

I’m on the fence about this one. Someone I know had her chicken coop raided by a fox, who decapitated all of the chickens and left them.

How would a cat killer know who the owners were? There’s a cat who spends a lot of time in our garden, but he’s not ours.

tierraJ · 21/09/2018 09:16

Whatever happened it's very sad for the cat owners.

But my old cat did chase a big fox once so cats can scare foxes.
Only old immobile cats would be obvious prey for foxes.

ToadOfSadness · 21/09/2018 09:17

I didn't say foxes kill for fun. I said they just kill, whatever their reasoning.

Have also had a cat that would see them off, so am not convinced that many foxes take cats unless they are old or sick.

I am also pretty sure that foxes don't use cars to stun their victims, or blunt force trauma as reported or tempt them with chicken.

Then there is the guy with the rucksack trying to grab cats, possibly the same one that was described previously, similar description. Police officer's son maybe, it would account for the attitude, not bothered about getting caught.

ToadOfSadness · 21/09/2018 09:23

How would a cat killer know who the owners were? There’s a cat who spends a lot of time in our garden, but he’s not ours.

Hanging about waiting for a cat to take, sees it come from a house or garden.Access to supermarket card details showing pet food, or a pet food delivery, works for a delivery company that delivers pet food. A box with Zooplus on the label is a giveaway for instance. Drone to see pets in back gardens. Gardens have been targeted and rabbits and other pets removed from hutches, killed, and put back in hutches, or left displayed on the lawn.

ToadOfSadness · 21/09/2018 09:23

Microchip database would also show addresses.

covetingthepreciousthings · 21/09/2018 09:25

www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/uk-cat-killer-linked-mutilated-13192565

Let's not forget the 'cat killer' has also killed & mutilated foxes themselves.
This article says a foxes paw was found with no signs of teethmarks or salvia looking like it was a blade. There are other instances of foxes being found mutilated & decapitated - so whose responsible for that, foxes ?

PixieCutRegret · 21/09/2018 09:25

They’ve probably identified the killer and he’s a police officer or someone in authority whom they have to protect.

This was my first thought too.

Original poster
mumof2andsurviving · 21/09/2018 09:26

I don't think it is someone they are trying to protect... just that the can't afford it, don't have the resources, don't want to panic people, or they are trying to catch the perpetrator off guard.

OP posts:
Reaa · 21/09/2018 09:30

Personally, I think they are publicly denying he/she/they exist in order to enrage them, in the hope they will up their game, perhaps slip up, then they can finally be caught.

UpstartCrow · 21/09/2018 09:34

So was the horse ripper also foxes?

MetalMidget · 21/09/2018 09:34

Were the bodies often found on the owners' doorsteps? I've read a few articles and not seen that, but did read that many of the cats didn't have known owners, so the police couldn't prosecute in those cases if they found a perpetrator.

If headless bodies were found out and about, I can totally believe that it's just foxes. Foxes do tend to decapitate their kills/scavagings, and may abandon the body if they're disturbed during eating/hiding it.

They don't tend to pop their kills on the doorstep of the owners, and it's pretty unlikely they'd be able to kill the cat on its own doorstep without making a hell of a racket. It's also pretty rare that they'd take a pop at a cat, but scavaging a road kill is more likely. So I guess it really depends on how many of the cats were in carrier bags and/or placed on doorsteps of the owners.

Original poster
mumof2andsurviving · 21/09/2018 09:35

Personally, I think they are publicly denying he/she/they exist in order to enrage them, in the hope they will up their game, perhaps slip up, then they can finally be caught.

Yep. There is definitely some psychology behind this.

OP posts:
AlevelConfusion · 21/09/2018 09:40

Weren't some of the cats found on their owners doorsteps? Very clever these foxes to know where to leave them!

I believe one headless corpse was hung on a school gate - bloody clever fox Hmm

I can well believe foxes will scavenge road accident victims. And some of them might well have made it back home before dying and so been scavenged on their doorsteps.

Without their heads, yeah that's what's happened Hmm

flamingofridays · 21/09/2018 09:41

its bollocks, and cats generally don't go home to die, they run away and hide.

if a fox had injured a cat I find it unlikely it would try and get home, in my experience, they don't.

I think its a load of bollocks. It definitely some fucked up human.

NastyCats · 21/09/2018 09:42

Sorry, excuse my nickname, it's a bit inappropriate on this thread...

We have foxes that come into our garden. They sunbathe, rough and tumble, follow my elderly dog around, and have on several occasions come into the house, taken shoes and poo-ed on the floors and kitchen work-tops. You have to get inches away from them before they will make a half-hearted attempt to lope off. I have seen them play with a rat, throwing it repeatedly into the air like a dog toy, put it in a hole, come back for it and play with it again. I have also seen them playing tug-o-war with a squirrel. If I had a baby I would not be leaving that child anywhere a fox could even possibly get close to.

I also live in a borough that borders Croydon. I have lived here all my life; years back we didn't have foxes that behaved like this and now we do. I am prepared to believe that this is a new behaviour developed by suburban foxes but the fact that police believed there was more to it than this and details of some of the incidents gives me pause, although other than saving resources I can't see what is to be gained from denying the crimes if they are believed to be such. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

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