Family left heartbroken after two pets killed in one month by suspected 'poisoned sausage'

A family has been left heartbroken after two treasured pets were killed by suspected poison in the space of a month.

Maya Mellor said she thinks both Deadpool the cat and Honey the Yorkshire Terrier, who died after suffering vomiting and seizures, were deliberately targeted.

The mum-of-two, 27, said she has been told by RSPCA investigators that they were looking at the possibility that poison-laced sausages were involved in her precious pets’ demise.

Ms Mellor, from Liverpool, said a number of pets have died in suspicious circumstances or gone missing recently in her local area near Yewtree cemetery.

She said she is now planning to move from her home of five years after Deadpool’s death on Monday.

She said: “It’s been devastating, I have little boys and it’s affected them so much. It’s heartbreaking, it really is not just for my animals but for everyone round here that has had pets go missing or die. I feel it was deliberate.

“At about 3am I heard the cat screaming and he was lying in an unnatural position on the stairs, with his claws hooked into the carpet.

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“He wouldn’t stop screaming, he couldn’t move. I called PDSA and got a taxi straight away, but he started to fit in the taxi.

“It was too late by the time we got there and they had to put him down. I have one cat left and it’s not allowed to leave the house, I can’t chance that now.”

Matt Forshaw, a senior vet at Huyton PDSA in Liverpool, said Deadpool was limping, vomiting and having seizures and despite treatment his “condition rapidly deteriorated”.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: “At this stage we do not know if these incidents were accidental incidents or deliberate.

“But in the meantime we would ask for everyone in the area to keep an eye out and check where they keep their pesticides and chemicals, including antifreeze, and make sure it is secure and out of the way of animals.

“We would ask that they make sure substances are carefully disposed of, rather than dumped on a roadside or in a park too.”

It added signs a pet has been poisoned include depression, lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, breathing difficulties and bad breath, twitching or seizures.

Deliberately poisoning a protected animal like a cat or dog is an offence and carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and, or, an unlimited fine, the RSPCA said.