Escaped cat blamed for slaughter on Co Antrim farm

An escaped big cat has been blamed for slaughtering a ram on a farm near the Co Antrim village of Bushmills overnight.

The dead animal had bite marks on its side and, according to witnesses, was killed in a swift and vicious way.

The ram was found lying dead with its side ripped open, its ears missing and its entrails on the ground.

The police and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have been investigating reports of an escaped cat in Co Antrim for a number of weeks.

The puma-like animal is one of two on the loose in the North; the other is in the Cookstown area of Co Tyrone.

British laws controlling the keeping of wild animals do not apply in the North and the two cats roaming around the North are believed to have escaped from or been freed by their owners.