Police identify U.K. woman who dumped cat in trash bin; RSPCA to interview her
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
When a video surfaced showing a gray-haired woman in Coventry, England, seemingly innocuously petting a cat before dumping it into a trash bin, outrage among animal lovers ran high, with many social-media users posting the video in an attempt to help identify her.
Now, U.K. media reports that the woman -- ‘a bank worker from Rugby,’ according to the Daily Mail -- has been identified, but her name hasn’t been released. Coventry authorities say she hasn’t been arrested ‘because she has not committed a criminal [offense],’ but she is to be interviewed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Guardian reports. The woman ‘is not being given police protection but Coventry police are making sure that the woman is OK, as they would any other member of their community,’ the police department’s statement continued.
The cat, a rescued 4-year-old tabby named Lola, was trapped in the bin for 15 hours before her owners found her. ‘I came down to feed Lola on Sunday morning but couldn’t find her anywhere,’ owner Darryl Mann told the Daily Mail. ‘It was really hot day outside and I searched nearby alleyways but suddenly heard a tiny meowing coming from the bin. I looked inside and I found her in the bin, she was terrified and covered in her own mess.’ Mann’s wife, Stephanie Andrews-Mann, said Lola ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly.’ The cat emerged from the incident without suffering physical harm.
The couple have created a Facebook fan page called ‘Help Find the Woman Who Put My Cat in the Bin,’ which, as of Tuesday afternoon, had already amassed nearly 21,000 fans.
RELATED ANIMAL MISTREATMENT NEWS:
Cat found ‘marinating’ in New York man’s trunk has a new home; former owner charged with cruelty
Colorado woman who taped dog to refrigerator receives 30-day jail sentence, probation
-- Lindsay Barnett