A TAVISTOCK woman who has been reunited with her cat after he went missing two months ago believes that her beloved pet may have been stolen.

Sue Oldfield, the owner of Tingting, was contacted by an anonymous caller a few days after being reunited with her cat and now believes that Tingting was taken by someone local and driven to a remote part of Dartmoor, where he was dumped and left to die.

Sue said that the police had been made aware of this development and requested that anyone who might have seen or heard anything should contact the police in confidence on 101.

She has also asked all pet owners in the area to watch over their pets carefully. Sue said: ‘If the anonymous phone call was true, it seems there may be someone in the area who has committed this dreadful act of cruelty, not only to Tingting but also to his owner by subjecting me to two months of acute distress.’

Sue had previously assumed that because Tingting was found near Fernworthy Reservoir, 25 miles from home, he had jumped into a delivery van. She said she didn’t think he would have found his way right across Dartmoor if he had wandered off from Tavistock.

Tingting was found last weekend by a lady living near the reservoir. She took in the animal and cared for him whilst tracing Tingting’s owner via the Cats Protection website and her local vets.

Thanks to the fact that he was micro-chipped and that his photo and details were on a number of websites, Tingting was reunited with his delighted owner on Monday, February 1, having been missing for nearly two months.

Not only did Sue spend over £1,000 in an attempt to find him, but she said she had also suffered two months of extreme emotional distress and this has adversely affected her health, although she hoped she would recover now that she had her cat back.

Sue added: ‘Tingting is emaciated after spending two months in appalling weather conditions on the moors but he is now being nursed back to health and is very pleased indeed to be back with his owner and my two other cats.

‘Since the announcement in the Tavistock Times last week of Tingting’s safe return, I have had quite a few people call me to tell me how delighted they are that my cat has been reunited with me, and that has touched me deeply, but it is distressing to think that there might be someone out there who was directly responsible for Tingting’s disappearance.

‘He is very thin at the moment and has a long way to go to recover. Thank you again to everyone who has helped me in the search for my cat. It’s been a dreadful couple of months but it’s wonderful to have him home and to be able to get to lead a more normal life again.

‘I have spoken to hundreds of people since Tingting went missing and without exception everyone has been most supportive. On a number of occasions it all got too much for me and I have broken down in tears, but the wonderful support I’ve received from so many people has kept me going through what has been a dreadful two months for me.’