Cruel teenagers in Sheffield ring owner of missing cat and taunt 'we smashed its head in with a brick'

Natalie Cartwright, from Loxley, has been desperate to find her pet ginger tom Tyrion after he went missing nearly three weeks ago.

It led Natalie to sharing her number in missing pet groups on Facebook and on posters put up around her area.

But she knew something was amiss when she had a call from a withheld number on Tuesday (November 5) only to hear a teenage boy say: “We know where your cat is.”

Natalie told The Star: “I could hear others on the line sniggering who thought it was a laugh.

“They said, ‘we’ve hit it with a car, we couldn’t kill it so we smashed its head in with a brick.’”

Natalie says she was in a supermarket car park at the time. Enraged, she hung up but immediately felt the distress hit her.

She said: “I haven’t had a panic attack in years but I had one there and then. Two lovely men came over and got my shopping into the car. I couldn’t breath.”

It wasn’t over, though. The withheld number called her seven more times in the next 40 minutes.

Natalie said: “I tried to ignore them but I got so angry and picked up for one of them. They started meowing and saying ‘your cat’s dead, your cat’s dead, we’ve smashed its head in’.

“I was so upset but after I calmed down all I could feel was anger.

“If those were my children, I would think ‘I’ve failed as a parent.’ It’s not normal behaviour - it goes beyond a prank, it’s sick.”

Now, Natalie wants parents in Sheffield to hear the details of the horrid calls and ask themselves if their child is responsible.

The eight calls were made between 12.20pm and 13.35pm on Tuesday, November 6. She believes she heard three different voices on the line.

Meanwhile, she has not taken down the missing posters or the online appeals for Tyrion - who is now seven and has been with Natalie had since he was a kitten - in the hope he is brought home soon.

Natalie said: “My three kids are distraught. He’s only every stayed close to home but one day he just didn’t come back in.

“I’ve called all the vets and the council twice. We just want him home.”

You can see Tyrion’s missing pet appeal online here.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: “At 1.52pm on Tuesday, we responded to reports of malicious communications in Sheffield.

“It is reported that three teenage boys made several calls to a 39-year-old woman, causing distress.

“An investigation has been launched and enquiries are ongoing.”