A KITTEN S battered and disembowelled body was heartlessly dumped on her owner s doorstep last week. Aileen Downey, of 60 Normandy Road, is desperate to find out what happened to her family s much-loved eight-month-old cat Tallulah after she went missing

A KITTEN'S battered and disembowelled body was heartlessly dumped on her owner's doorstep last week.

Aileen Downey, of 60 Normandy Road, is desperate to find out what happened to her family's much-loved eight-month-old cat Tallulah after she went missing on Friday, November 6.

In the following days Ms Downey and her family launched a poster and leaflet campaign locally in the hope of finding the tortoiseshell RSPCA rescue kitten and reuniting her with her sister, Petula.

But on Monday, November 9, an anonymous individual dumped Tallulah's unrecognisable body by her front door, leaving her identifiable only by her bright blue collar and identity tag.

A vet later determined that Tallulah died from a massive head trauma and she also had a broken leg, but Ms Downey is unsure if Tallulah was killed deliberately or died in an accident.

She is now appealing for any information which may help her solve the mystery.

She said: "I don't know whether it was a horrible accident or foul play, but the anonymous 'drop-off' suggested the latter.

"It could've been an accident which was completely mishandled, but we did pound the streets looking for her and if she had have been killed on the road we would have expected to find her there."

Ms Downey continued: "If you don't have family pets and don't really understand how attached you can become to them, I can appreciate that. But I think you would probably still understand that it wasn't really acceptable to just leave a family pet in that pitiable state to be found by the owners by their front door."

She also said Petula is desperately missing her sister: "She is very lonely without her and looking everywhere for her, in drawers and various other places."

Anyone with information about the incident that can help Ms Downey establish what happened is asked to email hertsad@archant.co.uk or call 01727 865165.