After a three-year investigation, police in the UK have determined that hundreds of 'cat mutilations' were likely the result of foxes rather than a human.
Met Police in London launched an investigation in November 2015 after reports from the public about mutilated cats.
The animals were often found with their heads or tails removed.
The incidents prompted dramatic media stories referring to a ‘Croydon Cat Killer’ or an ‘M25 Cat Killer’, further fuelling public concern.
Officials carried out two dozen post-mortem examinations on cats that had been discovered mutilated.
They found the animals had most likely died after being hit by cars, with the mutilations taking place after death.
After zoning in on six potentially 'suspicious' cases and looking at hundreds of others, police could find no evidence of human involvement in any cases of mutilation.
CCTV footage from three incidents, meanwhile, showed foxes carrying either the bodies or body-parts of cats.
We note some media reports state our investigation showed cats in #Croydon and elsewhere were killed by foxes. In fact, the cats were killed due to major blunt force trauma consistent with vehicle collisions. Scavenging foxes then mutilated body parts - especially heads and tails
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) September 20, 2018
Meanwhile, Hertfordshire Constabulary - who were also investigating cases of animal mutilation - asked a veterinary forensic pathology expert to carry out post-mortem exams on three cats and two rabbits.
Tests showed the presence of fox DNA on all five bodies.
Chief Inspector Stuart Orton of Hertfordshire Police observed: "I am pleased we can now confirm that the reports relating to the bodies of cats and rabbits in Hertfordshire have been attributed to natural predation activity, and are not the work of a human hand.
“As explained by our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police, the evidence suggests that the animals had been predated by foxes; in a rabbit’s case after being removed from a hutch, and in a cat’s case after death likely caused by a road traffic collision."
Met Police added that "no further police investigations" are required into any of the allegations about mutilated cats.
