London cat "serial killer" was just foxes, DNA analysis confirms
Between 2014 and 2018, more than 300 mutilated cat carcasses were found on London streets, leading to sensational media reports that a feline-targeting serial killer was on the loose. The fact that the cats often had their heads or tails cut off, as well as the cleanliness of their wounds, led many to suspect human involvement. Others dismissed the suggestion, pointing the finger at foxes instead.
To find out more, Henny Martineau at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK and her colleagues analysed 32 mutilated cat carcasses found by the public between 2016 and 2018. The bodies had been stored by the Hertfordshire and Metropolitan police forces as part of an investigation.
The researchers conducted post-mortem examinations on the cats, as well as CT scans. They also swabbed the cats’ fur to test whether they could find DNA belonging to other animals such as dogs, foxes or badgers.
The police struggled to pinpoint the true killer of the cats because of how different all the carcasses looked, says Martineau. “In our study, there were 13 different combinations of missing body parts, so it was difficult to spot patterns initially.”
Testing for DNA, the researchers concluded that the cats had all been mutilated by foxes after they had died. The post-mortem examination revealed that there was no single cause of death among the cats. They suspect that just 10 of the 32 cats they analysed were killed by foxes.
