Police probe 26 Lancashire big cat sightings in five years (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Police probe 26 Lancashire big cat sightings in five years
5:00pm Sunday 3rd July 2011 in Hoddlesden
A BIG cat was spotted prowling around a Lancashire housing estate on a summer afternoon, it has been revealed.
The sighting of the four-foot long creature, described as a cross between a tiger, cheetah and leopard, was one of 26 reported to Lancashire Police in the last five years.
The caller told officers the animal, which had a long tail and ‘tiger spots’, had been running down back streets on the Brunshaw estate, in Burnley.
Suspecting it was a Bengal cat, or ocelot, police contacted the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to find out if any were licensed in the area.
The out-of-place animal was spotted in Brunshaw Avenue, on a June afternoon, but no further sightings were reported.
In October last year, a security guard on a night shift at premises in Lower Darwen told officers he saw a large golden cat, resembling a puma, behind a fence.
Reports also feature sightings of black panthers in Hoghton, a wild white cat in Hoddlesden, and pumas in Turton and Waterfoot also feature in the reports.
In Leagram, near Chipping, a man contacted police on four separate occasions in a six-month period to report having seen a puma-like cat with a head the size of a football.
On one occasion, he said, the six-foot long animal, which had been following him around, even growled at him.
Almost half of the 26 sightings reported to police were in East Lancashire locations, suggesting the area is something of a big cat ‘hot spot’.
The details were revealed to the Lancashire Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act.
However, the list does not include reports of lions, or jaguars, because searches under those words on police systems brought up a lot of unrelated information.
The 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act made it illegal to keep big cats as pets and may have led to some being released by owners.
Click on the link below to see the full details of the Freedom of Information request.
Comments(16)
TONY WALES
says...
6:24pm Sun 3 Jul 11
Keep Darwen Green
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7:09pm Sun 3 Jul 11
clickhere
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9:15pm Sun 3 Jul 11
The LT will be full if indignation if because of these silly requests the authorities decide to charge the going rate to research these FoI requests. After all the request above was of no great interest to the public - just a way of the LT filling a column or two and possibly selling a few extra copies. If the LT is charging people to read the result of the FoI request, it seems reasonable the the police should charge for providing the information.The end result though could well be that this may deter genuine requests by people who will be priced out of a useful tool in the democratic process.
Graham Hartley
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9:34pm Sun 3 Jul 11
clickhere wrote:FOI requests are sometimes refused because the cost of providing the information is high. When information is provided, the provider may charge for the service.
And is this what the Freedom of Information Act was meant to be used for? Lancs Police are having to save £42m or so. Bobbies and backroom staff being dumped and Police Stations being closed - and the Lancashire Telegraph puts extra costs on to the Police which makes matters worse, so it can find out how many 'wild cat' sightings there have been in the last five years!!???!
The LT will be full if indignation if because of these silly requests the authorities decide to charge the going rate to research these FoI requests. After all the request above was of no great interest to the public - just a way of the LT filling a column or two and possibly selling a few extra copies. If the LT is charging people to read the result of the FoI request, it seems reasonable the the police should charge for providing the information.The end result though could well be that this may deter genuine requests by people who will be priced out of a useful tool in the democratic process.
Monsters mum
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9:37pm Sun 3 Jul 11
Aussie Peg
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12:02am Mon 4 Jul 11
England has happily absorbed many species including hybrid (part-domestic) cats, which can be many colours, sizes and shapes.
"Strange" animals viewed fleetingly and at a distance always seem much larger and threatening - and more numerous - so that's my solution for your cat sightings: one or more of the hybrid cats, which can be very large, very beautiful, very "wild" looking and a great nuisance to livestock, pets and even children.
Let's see a photograph!
Raven
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11:22am Mon 4 Jul 11
ramjam
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12:49pm Mon 4 Jul 11
Armchair Warrior
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1:18pm Mon 4 Jul 11
Gob
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1:54pm Mon 4 Jul 11
jessjade
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2:40pm Mon 4 Jul 11
DaveBurnley
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4:39pm Mon 4 Jul 11
Heretical
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12:40am Tue 5 Jul 11
RAyzer
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7:54pm Tue 5 Jul 11
hairy mary
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9:33pm Wed 13 Jul 11
useyourhead says...
5:20pm Sun 3 Jul 11