NI mum says ‘sick butcher’ used a shovel to ‘murder’ family cat

Ashton Blair spoke of her shock when she saw her beloved Gizmo in her front garden ‘butchered’ by someone while she was out shopping.

The mother of two from the Westland Road area of Portadown wanted to warn all her friends and neighbours about the attack, particularly after two kittens were found dead days earlier.

She said she found Gizmo ‘lying in my garden with his left side completely ripped off’. “He was covered in scratches and missing chunks of hair round his face and eyes. He couldn’t walk and barely had the strength to cry.

“At first I thought he’d been attacked by dog or hit by a car before crawling home to die but sadly all evidence makes me believe this isn’t the case,” said Ashton.

He was still alive when she and her mum brought him to the vets. However, given the level of pain and the extent of injuries the little cat had suffered, it was recommended that he be put to sleep.

Ashton revealed that when her mum went into the room with the vet to say her final goodbyes to Gizmo, the vet said the injuries were most likely caused by someone using a shovel.

“Gizmo was a real wee home bird, he hardly ever even crossed the road. So there is someone out there who has brutally attacked and murdered my cat,” she said.

Ashton is absolutely sickened by the attack. “Whoever did this must be sick in the head,” she said.

The young mum said her two boys are ‘heartbroken’ at the death of four year old Gizmo.

She said the youngest, Caleb, who is aged two, was with her when she found Gizmo but didn’t see the injuries. “He just keeps asking when Gizmo is coming home,” she said, adding that her eldest boy Henley, aged five, is devastated.

“So cat owners please be aware and be extra cautious as you never know what people are capable of! As for the person who has done this, I hope you can live with yourself after taking away a family pet and traumatising two little boys.”

DUP Cllr Darryn Causby described the slaughter as ‘downright despicable’.

“This is a despicable act of cruelty. How can someone go about and inflict heinous injuries and torture this cat. He must have been in incredible pain. You have to be a very sick person to do that,” he said.