Major Bonkers
AH enthusiast
I am not a great fan of cats, particularly that of my neighbour which comes and craps in my garden. The cat, not the neighbour. In fact, the last time that I went to Africa I took with me a copy of '101 Uses for a Dead Cat' (available on Amazon) as a present for my host, who hates cats as much as I do.
'The Daily Telegraph' reports news of someone equally annoyed with the neighbour's stupid cat, and who attached a firework to their bird table to discourage Tiddles' trespassing. Fortunately they filmed the excitement for our amusement. My only regret is that the firework was insufficiently lethal, but our otherwise useless police would have sent round the armed response unit and one of their helicopter gunships had the cat been dealt with appropriately.
When I was a boy, my brother and I found a blank-firing 12-bore tripwire alarm mechanism. Of course, we had to try it with a proper cartridge, so we put one of those in. Being young and gormless, we didn't understand about proofing and all that nonsense. It worked fine to begin with - the trick is that you angle the direction of shot onto a ploughshare so as to get the maximum short-range spread - but on about the third experiment the whole mechanism exploded, and the shot just missed my brother's foot. Really, perhaps we should have been a bit better supervised.
First 'The Daily Telegraph' article, and followed by the YouTube video:
Gareth Corfield
Pet cat Suki’s whiskers were scorched following the alleged attack
A parish councillor has resigned after a neighbour accused him of trying to blow up her cat using a bird box rigged with explosives.
James Garnor, of Whittlebury Parish Council, resigned on Friday after reports emerged detailing the incident that left an 11-year-old tabby, Suki, with singed whiskers.
Footage being circulated among residents of the Northamptonshire village shows the cat leaping from a garden bird house as a firework explodes above its head.
Nikki Elam, Suki’s owner, said her pet had been left traumatised. “To me, this is like Jeffrey Dahmer kind of stuff … I felt physically sick,” she told The Telegraph.
She alleged the councillor was involved in the explosive plot against her cat, citing apparent annoyance at the pet eating food left out for the birds. This has not been confirmed.
Mr Garnor did not comment when approached by The Telegraph about the claims.
Cllr Roger Harrington, the chairman of Whittlebury council, told The Telegraph: “The parish council is aware of the accusation levelled at Cllr James Garnor. This is a neighbour dispute which has been escalated to involve national media.”
Cllr Harrington added, in comments made before Mr Garnor’s resignation: “It is a private matter between the councillor and his neighbour. The parish council considered the matter under its code of conduct and concluded that the councillor had not breached the code.”
“We understand the concerns raised by the community and want to assure everyone that we take all matters of animal welfare seriously,” said the letter.
“While the council cannot intervene in private matters, we encourage all individuals to act responsibly and with consideration for the wellbeing of all animals.
“We are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of our community and will continue to uphold the highest standards of conduct.”
Northamptonshire Police investigated the incident and said two men in the village had been spoken to.
A spokesman for the force added: “There was insufficient evidence to prove criminal charges in relation to the investigation. The matter was dealt with by use of anti-social behaviour legislation in March 2024. The owner of the cat was updated throughout the investigation and was advised of this outcome.”
YouTube video
'The Daily Telegraph' reports news of someone equally annoyed with the neighbour's stupid cat, and who attached a firework to their bird table to discourage Tiddles' trespassing. Fortunately they filmed the excitement for our amusement. My only regret is that the firework was insufficiently lethal, but our otherwise useless police would have sent round the armed response unit and one of their helicopter gunships had the cat been dealt with appropriately.
When I was a boy, my brother and I found a blank-firing 12-bore tripwire alarm mechanism. Of course, we had to try it with a proper cartridge, so we put one of those in. Being young and gormless, we didn't understand about proofing and all that nonsense. It worked fine to begin with - the trick is that you angle the direction of shot onto a ploughshare so as to get the maximum short-range spread - but on about the third experiment the whole mechanism exploded, and the shot just missed my brother's foot. Really, perhaps we should have been a bit better supervised.
First 'The Daily Telegraph' article, and followed by the YouTube video:
Parish councillor resigns after being accused of trying to ‘blow up’ cat
James Garnor quits post after footage emerges showing pet leaping clear of bird house explosionGareth Corfield
Pet cat Suki’s whiskers were scorched following the alleged attack
A parish councillor has resigned after a neighbour accused him of trying to blow up her cat using a bird box rigged with explosives.
James Garnor, of Whittlebury Parish Council, resigned on Friday after reports emerged detailing the incident that left an 11-year-old tabby, Suki, with singed whiskers.
Footage being circulated among residents of the Northamptonshire village shows the cat leaping from a garden bird house as a firework explodes above its head.
Nikki Elam, Suki’s owner, said her pet had been left traumatised. “To me, this is like Jeffrey Dahmer kind of stuff … I felt physically sick,” she told The Telegraph.
She alleged the councillor was involved in the explosive plot against her cat, citing apparent annoyance at the pet eating food left out for the birds. This has not been confirmed.
Mr Garnor did not comment when approached by The Telegraph about the claims.
Cllr Roger Harrington, the chairman of Whittlebury council, told The Telegraph: “The parish council is aware of the accusation levelled at Cllr James Garnor. This is a neighbour dispute which has been escalated to involve national media.”
Cllr Harrington added, in comments made before Mr Garnor’s resignation: “It is a private matter between the councillor and his neighbour. The parish council considered the matter under its code of conduct and concluded that the councillor had not breached the code.”
Animal welfare concerns
A letter from the council first highlighted by LBC and published on Saturday said that Mr Garnor had “resigned from the council on Friday 7th February 2025, with immediate effect” after “recent media coverage”.“We understand the concerns raised by the community and want to assure everyone that we take all matters of animal welfare seriously,” said the letter.
“While the council cannot intervene in private matters, we encourage all individuals to act responsibly and with consideration for the wellbeing of all animals.
“We are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of our community and will continue to uphold the highest standards of conduct.”
Northamptonshire Police investigated the incident and said two men in the village had been spoken to.
A spokesman for the force added: “There was insufficient evidence to prove criminal charges in relation to the investigation. The matter was dealt with by use of anti-social behaviour legislation in March 2024. The owner of the cat was updated throughout the investigation and was advised of this outcome.”
YouTube video
