People are being warned to remain vigilant when letting their pets out at night as a cat was found “mutilated” in Carshalton.

South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) say the feline was discovered during the morning of October 19.

In a statement, they said they suspect the incident is human-related and are connecting it with a series of others which are being investigated by the team.

It comes as the Met Police closed the case of the so-called Croydon Cat Killer last month, putting it down to “scavenging by wildlife”.

The force concluded, after a lengthy investigation which took almost three years, it was likely carried out by foxes.

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A Met Police spokesman said: “The investigation took almost three years, due to the number of reports and allegations received from the public and the need to work with specialists to scrutinise any evidence.

“No evidence of human involvement was found in any of the reported cases. There were no witnesses, no identifiable patterns and no forensic leads that pointed to human involvement. Witness statements were taken, but no suspect was identified.”

But the decision was met with widespread backlash when the news broke, as many think there is one person – or potentially a group of people – behind the deaths.

Now pet owners have been urged to be wary of letting their cats outside at night following the incident in Carshalton.

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Parkside Veterinary Care, in Ruskin Road, Carshalton, said: “In spite of recent media coverage linking foxes to many unexplained injuries and deaths of local domestic cats, Parkside Veterinary Care would urge all cat owners to remain vigilant and cautious when letting their pets out at night.

“We have seen a few upsetting and suspicious deaths and mutilations, which we have reported to the police and SNARL.

“We will continue to work with SNARL in their ongoing effort to collate examples of evidence, sadly most of which was brought to us after the media statement was released.”

SNARL say the cat found mutilated in Carshalton has been identified and the owner is aware of the incident.