Croydon cat killer: Animal rescue group SNARL to continue search

An animal rescue centre has raised doubt over the police conclusion there is no "Croydon cat killer".

The Metropolitan Police has closed a three-year investigation into hundreds of reported cases of mutilated cats.

Detectives said there was "no evidence" humans had carried out the killings - instead linking some deaths to foxes.

South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) in south London has questioned how long police spent investigating the case.

It has worked alongside the Met and said it now had the expertise to continue with the investigations alone.

In 2015 the Met launched an investigation into reports of cats being killed in the Croydon and surrounding area - often with their heads and tails missing.

At one point a £10,000 reward was offered for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for mutilations in Greater London, Surrey, Kent, Manchester, Birmingham, Berkshire, Hampshire, St Albans and Northamptonshire.

Snarl said it was "surprised" by the Met's decision to close the case.

It said: "We have taken a collective decision to continue with the investigation.

"We now have the skills within our extended team to cover most of what police would be doing anyway.

"The police have stated they have never had a full-time officer assigned to the case, so we are wondering now how much time has actually been spent trying to solve this."

The Croydon Advertiser reported that in the first eight months of the police investigation, officers spent approximately 1,020 hours on the case.

The Met said Operation Tahake had involved one detective sergeant, four detective constables and 10 police constables.

A spokeswoman added: "All the officers work on other cases as well and are not dedicated solely to this operation."