House of horrors mystery as 'over a dozen' dead cats found in Coventry pond

The fish pond in a house in Canley where the cats were found



A Coventry woman has been left horrified and in shock after finding her pets among over a dozen deceased cats in a disused fish pond at an empty home.

Paula Singleton made the gruesome discovery on Sunday (17 May) after hearing reports of a dead cat in the garden of a house that's for sale in Canley. Since two of her pet cats were missing, she decided to investigate - but nothing could prepare her for what she uncovered.

She found several cats floating on the surface of a large pond, said to be 20 ft long, 10ft wide and 6ft deep, immediately recognising her two missing pets.

"I just went into pure shock," she told Coventry Live. "It instantly made me feel ill."

Paula initially contacted the RSPCA but says she was told because the cats were already dead it was 'nothing to do with them' and she should instead contact Coventry City Council. She said the council then directed her back to the RSPCA.

Feeling she had no choice, Paula returned to the property and began removing the cats from the pond herself. The devastated animal lover began retrieving her beloved cats, only discover the remains of more beneath the surface.

"When I started to get the cats out, the heads of other cats started to surface," she said. "By the night time I had found 11 heads, three whole cats and body parts everywhere."

Paula believes as many as 16 cats may have ended up in the pond over time. The remains of one cat was found in the garden, its head, tail and legs removed.

"I spent the whole of Sunday fishing out parts of cats and putting rocks into the pool so if anything else fell in it could get out," she said.

Paula thinks that some of the injuries she found on the intact cats appeared suspicious. Combined with the number of cats discovered dead, Paula thinks someone might be responsible.

"My ginger cat had part of his bottom jaw missing and another had blood around his face," she said. "All their claws were broken from struggling. It felt like foul play."

After further calls, Paula said the council opened a case involving police, the homeowner and the RSPCA. The house in question is understood to have been up for sale for several months having previously been rented out by the owner.

An RSPCA inspector later attended the property and Paula says she agreed something untoward had taken place.

"The lady who came out agreed there could be foul play," Paula said. "She thought post-mortems should be done because of the injuries and the amount of cats found there."

However, Paula says she was later informed there would be no post-mortems unless she paid privately and was quoted £300 per cat.

Paula wants an investigation and for the pond to be made safe. She also hopes she can link some of the dead cats to their owners.

"I want to be there when the pond is drained," she said. “I want them to scan for microchips so other owners can at least get some answers.

"It's left me completely in shock. I wasn't able to eat for days, every time I tried I just kept thinking of those poor cats."

Paula has shared images of the dead cats which shows the extent of the gruesome discovery. We've decided not to share them here as they are too distressing.