A Glenrothes woman has spoken of her horror at seeing her beloved cat cruelly and brutally attacked by an unidentified man in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Michelle Bartle, 43, described the person who repeatedly threw her 15-year-old Bengal cat Kameere to the ground as “pure evil” and hopes someone will be able to help police bring the heartless culprit to justice.
Kameere suffered a fractured skull in the attack and vets will decide if her left eye can be saved.
The man’s vicious actions have shocked the community in Minto Crescent, not least Michelle, who was alerted to what was happening by her cat wailing in pain outside at around 12.45am.
“It’s absolutely sick,” she told The Courier. “She was just in a mess when we found her and she’s going to have a long road of recovery ahead of her.
“The vets had to stitch her eye up in the hope they can save it, and we should know on Friday whether or not they will be able to do that, but they are not very hopeful.
“We’ve had her since she was a kitten – we got her six months after our son Scott was born and they’ve basically grown up together.
“The thing that scares me most about it is that if he can do that to an animal, what is he capable of doing to a child? Has he hurt other animals before? It’s just pure evil.”
Michelle had been in her room when she heard Kameere screaming outside, and she immediately knew something was up.
“I looked out of the window and just saw this man smashing her off the ground,” she recalled.
“I was shouting: ‘Let her go, let her go’ and I shouted down to my husband but he had his headphones on, so I ran downstairs.
“By the time we had got to the door the person had ran off and we couldn’t find the cat at first – my 16-year-old son found her lying bleeding on the grass.
“I scooped her up and noticed straight away she had a massive injury to her eye. It was bleeding, she was coughing and breathing funny, so we rushed her to the vet.
“I’ve just been furious that someone could do that to a defenceless animal, really upset.”
Michelle has since seen CCTV footage which shows the man in the area and, although it is not clear, she believes the suspect has a receding hairline and a tattoo on his forearm.
Sergeant Kirk Donnelly, from Glenrothes Police Station, described the attack as “absolutely sickening” and urged anyone with information to come forward.
He said: “We would ask that anyone who witnessed what happened, or who saw any suspicious activity within Minto Crescent during the early hours of Sunday morning, to contact police immediately.”
Those with information can contact Glenrothes Police Station via 101 and quote incident number 518 of July 1, or make an anonymous report to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
