9:11am Friday 16th May 2008
By Dick Bellringer
AN Andover family has hit out at thugs who they believe pitilessly kicked their kitten to death on King Arthur's Way Estate.
The family was enjoying a late night barbecue on Saturday when a neighbour said a kitten was lying dead on a grass bank just 25 metres from their house.
The father, who does not want to be named for fear the family's remaining kitten might be targeted, said: "On further investigation we found that the kitten had been badly kicked in the head and stomach region and left to die.
"To top it all, it was our kitten. Our family pet," he said.
"What a sick thing to do to a poor helpless animal who was probably enjoying that evening too, only to run into trouble from what I can only guess is a mindless lot of no good scum-type youths we have today."
What had been a pleasant evening with their four children, one son's girlfriend and their 10-month-old baby, turned into a grim midnight burial of Maisy, the kitten.
They believe it was the work of a group of noisy teenagers, heard just half an hour before Maisy was found.
The father added: "Damn you ignorant lot.
"It was left to us to pick up the pieces and have to dig our garden after midnight to bury her."
Police have appealed for anyone who saw any attack on the kitten, or who may have information about the incident, to contact Pc Pete Nelson at Andover police station on 0845 045 4545.
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