Phantom cat clipper causes owners distress

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A cat owner has said she has been left "really upset" when her pet returned home with parts of the fur shaved off.

Elouise Evans, who lives in Pinchbeck, near Spalding, in Lincolnshire, said her cat Dolly had been targeted three times in three years, with fur on her belly, back and right leg having been clipped.

"It's really upsetting if I'm honest - it's one of those things that can induce such anxiety in them," she said.

Police have urged cat owners in the area to be vigilant after officers said they were made aware of similar incidents in the village and in Kirton, near Boston, which officers described as "very bizarre".

Another Pinchbeck resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said both of his cats had been targeted multiple times and described the behaviour as "weird".

He said it was "concerning" that someone was deliberately clipping their fur.

Insp Matthew Dickinson, from Lincolnshire Police, said the cats did not appear physically harmed but small areas of their fur had been shaven "by some form of hair clippers".

"The motivation behind this is not known," he said.

The officer described the incidents as "completely unacceptable".

"Whatever the motivation behind this, it is not something that should be taking place," he said.

"The cats in question are someone's pet, part of their family and not only will these actions cause anxiety to the animal they also cause worry to their owners.

"Anyone who is evidenced to be responsible for doing this will have robust action taken against them and where necessary be prosecuted for any criminal offences identified.

"This is not a bit of fun and needs to stop now."

He encouraged owners to report any incidents to police.

Aaliyah Thorpe, who also lives in Pinchbeck and has three cats, said although her pets had not yet been targeted it was a worrying situation.

"It just makes me wonder why they are doing it.

"It is very strange.

"There are a lot of cats on this street and it seems to be happening more often," she said.

BBC News
Archive [February 18 2025]
 
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Not approving of this behaviour but I really do wish people wouldn't let their cats roam so much. There are a lot of psychos out there and the local facebook page is always reporting cat roadkill, plus all the dead wildlife slaughtered by cats that shouldn't be outside.
 
Some kid out there overheard their father complaining about how his wife doesn't "trim her pussy" and now it's a Moral Oral episode in Pinchbeck.
 
The Lincolnshire Clipper strikes again!

Seriously this is weird. No cat I have ever had would let a stranger get close enough to them to use clippers on them. We had one cat that would get horrible mats and we had to buzz them out. That cat was super mellow and it still freaked out if it heard the noise.
 
This is why if you are going to let your cat out you have to be right there with them. With a vest and leash too preferably. Some cats will just follow you around the backyard though so there is that. But really most cats can just be kept in the house if given enough enrichment.
 
pot of sneed said:
Not approving of this behaviour but I really do wish people wouldn't let their cats roam so much.
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That's almost certainly what's happening here. Someone is frustrated with loose cats shitting in their flower beds or harassing their animals in their yard. So they're shaving patches off the cats as a message to the owners to keep their animals inside.

I remember a case where someone dyed "GO HOME" on the side of a large dog someone let run around a neighborhood off leash everyday. It's a terrible thing to do, of course, but the pet owners are also being assholes.
 
Why bother having a pet that you won't even keep around? Keep your cats indoors or accept that they're future roadkill and have no one to blame but yourself, and be glad the worse thing that's happened to your cat thus far is a silly hair trim instead of being used as target practice by psychopaths or getting eaten by dogs who also aren't indoors as they should be.
 
I worked at an animal shelter years ago. I saw things. I had to photograph things that were brought in by animal control to document them in case the absentee owners came looking. Things that had been run over by cars, shot with BB guns, felled by infections and diseases that they couldn't fight and had received no care for in the wild, things mangled by predators.

Keep your fucking cats inside.
 
Fun fact: Greyhounds can easily catch the fastest cat, even in a fenced backyard. They instinctively grab any small animal running past them, then break its spine.

Meanwhile, loose suburban cats are used to physically outmaneuvering fenced dogs. They get over confident. Sometimes they make the fatal mistake of jumping into a greyhound's yard.

You can't train your loose cat to stop being a cat, and you can't train a greyhound to stop being a greyhound. So keep your fucking cats out of other people's yards.
 
My first thought was that the cats were getting burrs/mats in their fur by virtue of being an outdoor cat and someone removed them. The areas that have been shaved are some of the easiest places for burrs to catch and mats to develop, and they're small areas shaved, not big ones like you'd think someone making a statement about keeping your cat inside would have done.
 
We have three cats. We never let them leave the house. They are strictly indoor cats. Our two dogs are indoor dogs as well, though we of course let them into our fenced backyard several times a day to do their business. We live in a nice, safe, upper-middle class area, but there are a lot of sick people out there these days, and our area is semi-rural with lots of horse properties, and there are raccoons, foxes, and mink in our area. Don't want my pets getting snatched by some sicko or attacked by another animal.
 
Adding to the keep your cats inside, its not "cruel" like some people will claim, they sleep for 14 hours a day, I guarantee you they don't care as long as you play with them when they want.
 
Clotso Coof said:
That's almost certainly what's happening here. Someone is frustrated with loose cats shitting in their flower beds or harassing their animals in their yard. So they're shaving patches off the cats as a message to the owners to keep their animals inside.
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That or someone decided it was payback time and revenge against cats because a cat dropped a piece of meat at a temple in India.
 
In theory, I like the concept of keeping cats inside. In practice, it's not always possible. The cat is a lot faster than I am, and has 24/7 to plot its escape. I'm sure it's a lot easier to keep them in if you raise them inside from kittenhood, but I've always had shelter cats and semi-ferals that weren't having it. So, keep your cats inside---if you can.
 
toskarinion said:
Why bother having a pet that you won't even keep around? Keep your cats indoors or accept that they're future roadkill and have no one to blame but yourself, and be glad the worse thing that's happened to your cat thus far is a silly hair trim instead of being used as target practice by psychopaths or getting eaten by dogs who also aren't indoors as they should be.
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People tend to think that because cats are independent and can fight, they can survive outdoors. When I first got my cat, the guy who gave him to me told me that the cat was already a "house pet", meaning, he couldn't survive outside as a stray. We always kept him inside and only let him out to the garden. Once they become pets, it's not the same.

I miss him, guys : (
 
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