There have been calls for tougher laws to prevent animal cruelty after a stolen 12-year-old Persian cat in Cork was found so badly injured that he had to be put to sleep.
Felix, who lived in Blackrock in Cork, was allegedly stolen from outside his home.
The beloved family pet was found six days later in a graveyard with horrendous injuries.
The pure-bred was dicovered emaciated, dehydrated and with a broken jaw at the nearby St Michael’s Cemetery. He was put to sleep on 7 October.
The news has caused heartbreak in the local area, where people had carried out searches in the hopes of finding the missing pet.
The cat disappeared from outside his family home in Blackrock on 30 September.
A neighbour said they witnessed two males on an e-bike with one allegedly luring the cat over and petting him, before the second man grabbed the cat, screaming, by the tail.
Gardaí were immediately alerted of the incident, which happened at around 3am. They examined CCTV footage to try and identify those responsible.
His owner said that Felix was limp in the footage, which would indicate he was unconscious.
“They [the thieves] must have hit him to stop him from struggling and broke his jaw. Then, with all the attention he was getting, they kept him for a number of days,” Tracey Finnegan told the Echo.
“He was so emaciated and dehydrated when we found him, he couldn’t walk,” she added.
Ms Finnegan said she was so heartbroken over the disappearance and death of Felix that she hasn’t slept in a week.
She told the Neil Prenderville Show: “Myself and the kids were with him at the end, which is a small consolation. We are heartbroken. At least his suffering is over now.”
Cat Action Trust Cork trustee Jessica Quinn told The Echo Newspaper that many of the people allegedly involved in a worrying wider pattern of cat thefts and cruelty were young teenage boys.
The ages of the two individuals who took Felix have not been confirmed, however Ms Finnegan has called for jail terms for those responsible.
“This is a level of cruelty you should never inflict on any living thing,” said Ms Finnegan.
“These people have no empathy. I will never forgive them, and I will never understand them,” she said.
“There should be a prison sentence attached to something like this.”
Ms Finnegan said that the friendly pet was known to all on the street, and had been in her children’s lives as they grew up over the past decade.
“He was such a gorgeous, friendly cat. All of the children on the road would’ve played with him. He was like a local celebrity,” she said. “Everyone is just so devastated by this.”
One Senator said they had reached out to the NSCPA to discuss Ireland’s animal welfare laws, their enforcement and whether more needed to be done to protect animals
“Those responsible for animal cruelty must be held accountable, and we must ensure that animal welfare is taken seriously,” said Senator Laura Harmon.
“Felix deserved so much better. As the human of two cats, I cannot even think what Felix’s family have been put through this week.”