Cats going missing in my area - is any of this true?

[Tambatamba]

A lot of cats seem to be going missing in my local area and one person was talking about cats being taken by dog baiting rings. Then the conversation descended into 'Eastern Europeans taking them to eat them' and 'a microchip was found in a Chinese takeaway.'

Surely the last two theories are xenophobic nonsense?

Has anyone got this going on in your area?

We are talking about a dismembered dog or cat carcass in a UK Chinese restaurant. I'll allow lion 🦁. Was it in Leicestershire, Oxfordshire or Renfrewshire? And did the local Health Inspector have to retire due to shock?

If you read an article on urban legends, it tells you that takeaway and fast food are one of the main topics that become the subject of these sorts of stories.

No you can find them yourself. I’m not that invested in showing you how to use the internet

As someone said upthread, the ‘Croydon cat killer’ was thoroughly investigated and found to be complete rubbish.

The reason the police had to investigate was pressure from hundreds of foolish reports from cat owners who leapt to the sensational conclusion that a cat ‘serial killer’ was on the loose when their cat went missing. I think people do this because it’s so much more exciting than accepting that their cat was probably run over, and it gives them an opportunity to be part of the story. Which leads to an appalling waste of money and resources.

If a cat doesn’t come home it’s virtually certain to have been run over, attacked by a dog or just lost.

You can confidently rule out dog fighting rings and dodgy restaurants. And doing that will help restore common sense and avoid racist nonsense.

In that case we will assume they don't exist.

Or they exist but are not relevant to the OP, like the butcher in the link above who kept his beloved deceased Jack Russell in his shop freezer, which is a serious H&S breach but nothing to do with missing cats.

No you can find them yourself. I’m not that invested in showing you how to use the internet

I'll assume they don't exist then, as any legitimate article about pets ending up in takeaway food would be headline news and exceptionally easy to prove.

Yes, dog is eaten in several cultures, and s considered a delicacy.

So of course the dog (if there were any such dog as in the Alsatian dit early in the thread, this is almost certainly an urban myth) would be for family consumption only. If you've committed a crime to get your rare home-country delicacy, you're going to eat it yourself for special occasions

The dog-fighting rings thing is more of a maybe, according to all the reputable sources I've read. There's the occasional suspicious story like this, but no actual smoking gun.
kittens may have died during dog fighting training - RSPCA [[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-62738814 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-62738814

@icallitasplodge if you make a claim that seems unlikely, it's on you to prove its veracity.

That Alsatian really got around for a dead one.
It was also found in a restaurant in Lambeth c.1980 when I lived there 😉

I know a couple of people who's cats were killed at this time and they definitely weren't run over or attacked by foxes. I can't remember the exact details but the cuts were too clean.

The Brighton cat killer, who definitely did exist had cancer and died of covid. I wouldn't normally wish a slow, painful death on someone but for him I'm happy to make an exception.

Depending on who tells the story, it also seems to magically be able to transform into a different breed too

The Brighton cat killer, who definitely did exist had cancer and died of covid. I wouldn't normally wish a slow, painful death on someone but for him I'm happy to make an exception.

I agree!

If my post was deleted which I have never had happen in all the years I've been on here, then maybe the thread should go! Mine was fairly innocuous compared to many here. It just said about a time that me and my family had some strange meat in a Chinese restaurant which was closed down not long after. I didn't mention the name of the place or where it was!

it was a laden racist statement. maybe you need to get off the thread.

Right oh! I will get off the thread with pleasure. My remark wasn't intended to be racist and I apologise. It's a case of nobody being allowed to say anything these days in case it offends someone!

Also, if it was due to the comment 'good riddance' this was most certainly not intended to be racist as it would have been applied to any restaurant that was operating the way that one was, whatever the ethnic background. So please stop over reacting to every small thing that isn't intentionally racist..it's unnecessary and pathetic!

@BooseysMom you can't flounce off twice, surely you see this is silly?

racist and childish- pick a battle.

A woman I used to know told me that her father used to catch cats in his area and bring them miles away from their homes and release them. He was a roofer who worked all around the country. He had pigeons and didn't want cats near them. Nasty fucker

About 2 years ago my cat went missing. 3 other cats from close neighbours also went missing on the same day. My cat was a beautiful Bengal and 2 were Maine Coons, I don't know about 4th but it looked a pretty cat. All the missing cats were good looking ones. We were all upset and out looking for them. That's how we discovered there were other cats missing on the same day. We checked local vets. All these cats were female, microchipped and spayed. A vet told us unscrupulous people steal nice looking cats, hoping to breed from them, then once they realise they don't get pregnant they just dump them. Too far from their homes for the poor cats to make their way back. Not one of these cats has ever been returned. We just hope they weren't killed and found a new home.