‘Petnapper’ returns Marion Dill's cat grabbed as dog fight bait

Published: 17th March, 2011
by JAMIE WELHAM

A WOMAN whose pet cat mysteriously vanished claims it was returned after she was contacted by an organiser of illegal dog fights who bragged about using cats as bait.

Marion Dill, a journalist from Camden Town, said she received a call from a man claiming to be a dog fighter who had seen a notice about her missing cat, Manu, on the Gumtree website.

He told her cats were being killed in his dog fighting ring, she said.

Ms Dill added that the caller apologised for her pet going missing, referring to a kidney problem highlighted in the missing notice. He said: “I didn't know the cat was ill.”

A series of cat and dog disappearances in Camden has led to claims that they are the work of a petnapper.

Ms Dill said of the call: “I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was a hoax. The man said he was a dog fighter. He never actually said directly that he had taken my cat, but he said he didn’t know it had kidney failure. 

“He started crying down the phone. He said three cats were killed in their last fight.” 

Ms Dill spent hours driving around searching for Manu after he went missing at the beginning of March. The mysterious phone call came just hours after neighbours spotted Manu in church gardens near her house in Camden Road. 

She has reported the phone call to the area’s Safer Neighbourhood police team. Ms Dill added: “He didn’t tell me his name and he hung up when I said I had notified police. It was a private number. I think he saw the Gumtree advert because I had put it under a heading about possible dog fighting, so maybe those people look on there. 

“I am happy to have Manu back and I think this could be connected to a lot of these cats that have gone missing. People who do this see it as a sport, and they are very proud of it and the athleticism. Maybe they have a code about sick animals, I’m not sure.”

The practice of using cats as bait has been highlighted by animal welfare charities. They say cats are used to rile up fighting dogs before they are set on each other. 

Despite a stream of tip-offs and anonymous video footage, investigations have been hampered by a lack of firm evidence.