Horror as rescue cat found 'decapitated' just yards from rehoming shelter

A cat was found 'decapitated' just yards from the rescue shelter where it lived. Bosses say they have been left 'traumatised' and 'broken' after the death of 13-year-old resident Tabby cat Poppy, which they believe was the result of a 'barbaric act' of cruelty by a human.

The manager at the Oldham Cats rescue shelter, on Saxon Street in Middleton, was informed by a neighbour on Thursday morning (March 21) that there was a headless cat on a patch of grass just outside the perimeter of the premises.

Poppy's microchip confirmed it to be her. Poppy came to the shelter, which finds new homes for stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and kittens, in May 2019.

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As she couldn't be found a new home she was adopted as one of around a dozen ''resident' cats who are kept permanently at the shelter. Unlike those being found new homes, they are allowed to roam and are allowed out at the evening via a cat flap.

She was last seen on CCTV at around 2am in the early hours of Thursday. Her body was found but her head is still missing, Davina Hanes, 52, from Rochdale, the Assistant Manager at the shelter, told the Manchester Evening News.

After the grim discovery was made on Thursday, she was taken to a vets where two different experts examined her. And Ms Hanes said they had 'come to the same conclusion that it was a clean cut' and that 'she had been beheaded.'

"They said it wasn't a pull injury and it wasn't another animal likely to have done that, she's been severed," she said. "It's horrific. It's gut-wrenching, it's heartbreaking" she continued. "They've taken her head, it's missing. It's quite alarming. Especially as this can sort of thing can lead to further beavhours."

The incident has been reported to Greater