Police night patrols by undercover officers catch alleged serial cat killer

NEWS AND COMMENT: In the UK, there has been another spate of cat killings - 20 in all - on a council estate in London (Pleydell Estate in Islington). From time to time these criminal events happen in the UK. The residents on the estate became concerned because dead cats were appearing.

Police night patrols by undercover officers catch alleged cat killer. Police tent outside the block of flats. Image: The Sun.

They raised their concerns with the police and it is nice to report that in this instance the police demonstrated some commitment to catching the perpetrator. They appear to have sent out undercover police officers on night patrols. Amazing. They were doing some night shift work. I am surprised they did that.

Perhaps the senior police officer in this department is an animal lover. My experience in reading about these sorts of stories is that the police can tend to be ineffective and show a lack of commitment. One of the problems of course is finding the criminals because they operate at night under cover of darkness and in a very surreptitious way. Evidence can be hard to find.

Nonetheless, they have arrested David Avhanvhondo, 56, and charged him with causing unnecessary suffering and carrying out a prohibited procedure on a protected animal. That last aspect of the charge is rather sinister, isn't it? It implies that he has been mutilating the cats either after or before they were killed.

He was arrested at 4 AM on Sunday. That, too, would imply to me although this is unreported, that he was caught red-handed by the undercover officers.

The man appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to both charges. The police have been investigating these cat deaths in September 2022.

The report also implies that there may be more than the 20 deaths reported so far. Avhanvhondo lives in King Square, Barbican, London. He will reappear in court on February 28.