A heartbroken Huddersfield animal lover has urged pet owners to look out for their animals after her cat died from chemical poisoning.
Jessica Baxter, 26, of Dalton, said her four-year-old cat Albie died on the vet’s table on Sunday evening after being found collapsed in a neighbour’s garden.
And Jessica said she believes Albie may have been poisoned on purpose, although another possible cause is antifreeze.
She said: “The vet said it would have had to be a strong chemical to cause her to go into hypothermic shock. I don’t know where she’s got it from and I don’t know how to prove it was done on purpose but I think some people don’t like cats going in their gardens. Why else would you put antifreeze out for animals to drink?
“The vet said Albie had hypothermia which must have been caused by a strong chemical. They said it might have been antifreeze because animals are attracted to it.
“Earlier this year a stray cat died from poisoning in Dalton so there is a lot of it about.”
Jessica said she was devastated at the loss of Albie, who she’d owned since she was a kitten.
She said: “I got her four years ago when I lived on my own so she was my only friend then.
“She had babies when she was just a year old so I have gone through a lot with her.
“She was like a member of the family. I’m still waiting for her to come home and it will take me a while to get used to the fact she’s not.
“My daughter, Evie Florence, is only one so luckily she’s too young to understand what’s happened, but she adored Albie.”
Jessica said Albie was popular with all her neighbours, who had been upset to hear about what happened.
She said: “She was crazy. She liked to get on the roof and she used to go in people’s houses and sleep on their beds! She will be missed by everyone.”
