Cat dumper under police watch as anger grows

Security footage shows a woman dumping a cat in a wheelie bin before calmly walking away.

The British woman who was caught on a security camera cruelly dumping a cat in a wheelie bin is now under police protection after being named and shamed by the press.

Mary Bale, 45, has been identified as the woman captured on CCTV calmly stroking tabby Lola on a street in the English town of Coventry before looking around, dumping the cat in a wheelie bin and calmly walking away.

The Daily Mail reported Miss Bale, a bank worker, was now in hiding after receiving death threats. A Facebook page set up to track her down has attracted more than 18,000 members.

The paper reported West Midlands Police were keeping watch outside Miss Bale's terraced home yesterday and a spokesman said she had been offered advice on how to stay safe.

Police and the RSPCA have also confirmed they are investigating Miss Bale's actions to see if they constitute an animal cruelty offence and say they will be interviewing her soon.

Meanwhile, The Sun tracked Miss Bale down to her Coventry home and quoted the woman as saying she threw Lola in the bin "as a joke".

"I really don't see what everyone is getting so excited about - it's just a cat," the paper quoted Miss Bale as saying.

"I was walking home from work on Saturday night and saw this cat wander out in front of me.

"I was playing with it, stroking it and listening to it purr as it stood on a garden wall. It was very friendly," she told The Sun.

"I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly thought it would be funny to put it in the wheelie bin which was right beside me.

"I did it as a joke because I thought it would be funny. I never thought it would be trapped. I expected it to wriggle out of the bin."

The Sun also quoted Miss Bale denying she hated animals.

"People are reading too much into things. I've no feelings about cats one way or the other. I don't keep pets myself - but I have no problem with people who do.

"To think this video is being seen around the world is unbelievable. I'm a very private person and don't want to upset any members of my family. I don't know what my relatives will think, but to be honest I think everyone's overreacting a bit.

"Okay, I shouldn't have done it - but it's just a cat at the end of the day. I don't think I deserve to be hated by people all over the world, it was just a split second of madness.

"Cats are good climbers and I assumed it would just scramble out through the lid and go on its way."

Miss Bale is also concerned she may lose her job as a customer services assistant at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"I've had my boss ringing to ask me what's going on, and I've had to talk to the bank's security people about what to do if people who think I hurt the cat try to find me," she told the paper.

"Everything has gone crazy because of a stupid spur-of-the-moment thing I did - but I know I only have myself to blame."

Miss Bale's 78-year-old mother Celia Bale, 78, spoke to the Daily Mail about her daughter's actions. "She's my daughter and as far as I'm concerned she is the most caring person you could ever wish to meet.

"She had cats when she was a little girl and has never shown any cruelty to animals before in her life - she loves animals.

"I talked to her on the phone today and she can't explain why she did it or what got into her head, only that she really regrets it. She feels terrible about it," said Mrs Bale, adding that her husband Maurice, Miss Bale's father, was critically ill in hospital and her daughter had been under a lot of strain.

Meanwhile, Lola's owner Stephanie Andrews-Mann, who put the CCTV footage online in a bid to find the culprit, urged people not to seek revenge on Miss Bale.

"Now the police know who she is, I think people should leave it to them and the RSPCA to deal with it. I don't like her, but I don't want her to get hurt," she told The Sun.

- NZ Herald Staff