Woman filmed dumping cat in wheelie bin in Coventry
- Published
Darryl Mann says his cat is tired but fine after her bin ordeal
The RSPCA has said it will be speaking to a woman caught on CCTV dumping a cat into a wheelie bin in Coventry.
Lola, a four-year-old tabby, was discovered 15 hours later by owner Darryl Mann after he heard her cries.
He then checked his security cameras and saw footage of the woman first stroking Lola and then grabbing her by the neck and throwing her in the bin.
Police said they had identified the woman and community support officers had been stationed outside her home.
Mr Mann, 26, of Brays Lane, said he had not noticed that Lola had been missing.
"She is a night cat. We sometimes don't see her in the day unless she comes in for food."
He said he had been going out to his car on Sunday morning when he heard her meowing.
"I thought at first she was under the car. But then I found her in the bin."
He later checked his CCTV, which he installed for security reasons, to see how Lola had ended up in the bin.
"I thought she might have got in herself - she's not the brightest cat.
"It's disgusting, she's a lovely cat... she'd never hurt anyone.
Large crowd
"I don't know how someone could do it to such a defenceless animal.
"Obviously, we had to go through a good few hours of video footage, but... within a couple of hours we had it on the internet."
West Midlands Police said they received a call on Sunday evening reporting what had happened.
They said the actions caught on CCTV could constitute an animal cruelty offence because of the likely suffering caused to the cat.
The force said it was supporting the RSPCA investigation and urged the public to leave the matter to the authorities.
It said a large crowd had gathered outside the woman's home and police community support officers were there to monitor the situation.
"Media speculation that the woman is being given police protection is categorically not the case," it added.
"Community support officers are outside the woman's address monitoring a large group of people - most of them from the media - for public order purposes as per routine police procedure."
It said the RSPCA was due to talk to the woman shortly.