POLICE believe a man and his dog may be responsible for a spate of animal deaths in an area of Darlington.

A number of animals – including several cats – have been savaged and left for dead around a bridle path known as 'Black Path' in the Branksome area of the town.

Residents and police believe the incidents are linked to the ‘blooding’ of lurcher dogs, which sees owners set their dogs on smaller animals in a bid to get them used to the scent of blood and make them more effective hunters.

One Darlington woman is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her pet cat, Jodie, who was left to die in a farmer’s field after being savaged by another animal.

She said: “I’m still so upset and I can’t get the image out of my mind, I don’t want others to go through the same thing.

“My gut feeling is that it’s people with dogs and some sort of sport, you often see people with lurchers there.

“I’ve got other cats and I’m paranoid about letting them out – people need to be aware this is happening and protect their pets as much as possible.

“I want justice for my little cat who didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

PCSO Dave Gibson, of Darlington Police, said the incidents were concentrated around the bridleway running close to Jedburgh Drive.

He said: “We’ve got pictures of a cat found dead in the nearby farmer’s field and a lot of animals reported as killed.

“This has caused a lot of unrest and we’ve had a lot of people asking for help – these animals are pets and it’s causing a lot of hurt and worry.

“Whoever is doing this needs to stop – they might not know they’re acting illegally but if they’re ordering dogs to go out and attack other animals it’s illegal, when dogs are incited to kill it becomes animal cruelty.”

He added: “We think one person might be responsible as we keep hearing the same name and we’ll be paying that person a visit, but the more concrete information we have, the better.”

Anyone with information should contact PCSO Gibson on non-emergency number 101.