CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three cats accompanied by four children!

This story comes from Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK. It's rather sad because a mother who needs to be identified by the police burgled a home and stole three cats from that home while being accompanied by four children.

It appears, and this is the allegation, that she took her four children into this home and allowed them to watch her theft of three cats. That, I think you would agree, is highly irresponsible for the fact that it's a crime and that it might teach children about criminal behaviour.

The police have issued the CCTV photograph that you see on this page and ask people to notify them if they recognise the woman.

CCTV image: Source: local police force.

CCTV image: Source: local police force.

The story is that she and her children left in a vehicle down Lowergate in the direction of Highfield Road, Clitheroe, UK, at around 1 PM on Tuesday, September 3. They burgled a home on Moor Lane.

The strange and probably remarkable fact about the story is that the mother took her four children along with her when she burgled the home. We don't know more but the pictures are good enough to identify her.

Another strange aspect of the stories that the police historically have showed a complete disinterest in investigating burglaries in the UK. This has been the status quo for very many years, which is why there are more burglars than the should be in the country. Although burglary is less profitable to criminals than online fraud.

In this story we have to think about the cats as well and the owner of the cats. These cats have been taken from their home range, their home, and they will be disturbed and frightened. And of course the owner will be distraught if he or she is any good at their job of domestic cat caregiving.

There is a very strong emotional distress element to cat and dog theft by which I mean the caregiver can suffer tremendously for a very long time. This makes the theft of a sentient being more important to police than an inanimate object, I would argue.

In the UK, the theft of domestic animals has increased. It's quite a profitable form of criminality. Sometimes animals are stolen to breed which of course depends upon whether they can breed i.e. whether they be neutered or not.

I suspect that this woman has in mind breeding cats to make some money. She might have known that the cats had not been spayed or neutered. You see a lot of kittens for sale on social media from unscrupulous sellers. Sometimes the prices are inordinately high for non-purebred cats.

It depends on the appearance. If the kittens look great then people are more prepared to pay good money for them even if they are not purebred. Humans are very much focused on appearance. And sometimes unscrupulous people sell random bread cats as purebred cats.

That said, it's entirely possible that the three stolen cats are in fact purebred. I made the presumption that they weren't but I could be wrong.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

CCTV captured cruel cat owner beating his cat

The MailOnline and other news media outlets are reporting on the cruel behaviour of Artur Zakowicz, 46, roughly picking up his cat, Bashik (tuxedo cat), by the loose skin on his back (not the scruff) and hitting him six times with his hand and flattening him to the ground. It is all on CCTV video and the quality is good.

I can't show the video here because the advertisers will object. And in any case, it will be unpleasant. Sorry, if that is disappointing but why watch an unpleasant video of cat cruelty? I will publish a distant video screenshot which should be okay. See below. 

If you want to see the video and some more stills, please visit the MailOnline page by clicking on this link (opens new page).

Artur Zakowicz beats his cat Bashik in the street with CCTV watching. Credit: see image.

Ironically the CCTV cameras appears to be on a police station building (Blacon Police Station).

Bashik clearly struggled to escape as you would expect and managed to do so after 34 seconds precisely of being beaten.

There is no doubt that the experience must have been frightening and painful for his cat. He was tracked down by the RSPCA from the video footage.

RPSCA inspector Naomi Morris accompanied a police officer to Zakowicz's flat where he admitted the attack.

Bashik. Credit as per photo.

I think it is fair and useful to state that Zakowicz is a Polish name. Just for the record. Poles have a higher proportion of prisoners relative to their population in the UK than all other nationalities (868 in prison) bar Albanians who are miles out in front (1.5 million). I am being factual, please note.

By the time a veterinarian examined the cat it was 23 days after the assault and the cat had recovered.

However, the vet said that: "Persisting signs of bruising and soft tissue swelling would not be expected when considering the examination was carried out 23 days after the CCTV incident."

There were no skeletal injuries. Zakowicz was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a cat under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Bashik was seized and taken from him and will be rehomed by the RSPCA. On the 14th of October he was banned from keeping animals for five years. And sentenced to 15 days of rehabilitation activity (that won't do much good!), 200 hours of unpaid word, and pay a victim surcharge of £114 and costs of £500.