THEY get some strange requests at Huddersfield Pet Supplies in Queensgate Market.

Richard, the owner, said he was bit flummoxed the other day when a lady asked him if he sold elephant or tiger dung.

“Pardon?” was his first reaction. “Why would you want elephant or tiger dung?”

“I’ve been told it keeps cats out of your garden,” said the lady.

Which makes sense, in a way, if you are a couple of prowling cats and suddenly see a rather large deposit left by a mammal of gigantic proportions.

“By heck, Felix. They've got a flaming big dog. “Time to try Mrs Smith’s in the next street.”

But it also poses the question of which is preferable: the occasional wandering moggie or a pile of doo-da as big as a dustbin lid?

The lady customer, however, pursued her quest.

“Do you know where I could get some?” she said.

“How about Knowsley Safari Park?” said Richard.

“I know it sounds odd,” said the lady, with a smile. “Perhaps someone has been pulling my leg.”

But hang on before we all have a good laugh at the proud gardener. A few years ago, zoos in the UK found there WAS a demand by home-owners who wanted tiger poo to spread on their garden to keep cats and foxes away, and in their gutters to stop birds nesting.

Why am I not surprised it didn’t catch on?

Yet one chap from Hartlepool only recently emailed a website for advice on where to get tiger dung for that same purpose of keeping cats out of his garden.

The response he got was less than sympathetic.