Sadistic pet killer unmasked and why dogs and cats are targeted by disturbed individuals - The Mirror

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT. In recent years, the harrowing crimes of cruel pet killers have made headlines, but what drives a person to destroy a defenceless dog or cat?

While Britain is a nation of pet lovers, there are those who seek to harm and even kill beloved dogs and cats, traumatising those who view these beloved animals as part of their family.

In recent years, the UK has seen some truly harrowing cases, from a mum who stabbed a resting dog with a Samurai sword to a callous murderer who tortured her neighbour's cat before putting it in a blender. Commenting on this grim phenomenon, psychologist Dr Candice O'Neil told the Mirror: "Typically, intentional sadistic harm towards animals occurs due to an underlying psychopathy, such as antisocial personality disorder, but can be multi-factorial. Animal abuse is also related to the individual's need for power, control and dominance, as animals aren’t able to express the pain and harm as overtly.

"Individuals who intentionally inflict harm on animals are likely to have dysfunctional relationships with humans and poor social skills, low self-esteem and prior social integration, or perhaps they place little to no value on animal welfare." But who are these sadistic individuals who inflict devastating harm on innocent and much-loved creatures? Here, the Mirror takes a look.

Steven Bouquet

'Brighton cat killer' Steven Bouquet terrorised the seaside city with his diabolical crimes, which saw him ruthlessly slaughter nine felines, and inflict unimaginable violence on seven others. The security guard's reign of terror lasted from October 2018 and June 2019, leaving police perplexed as to who this shadowy figure could be.The owners of the much loved Hendrix, Tommy, Hannah, Alan, Nancy, Gizmo, Kyo, Ollie and Cosmo, were left distraught, with some facing the harrowing sight of their pets bleeding out on their own doorstep.

Eventually, the former Royal Navy gunner was brought to justice after a CCTV camera set up by the owner of a dead moggy caught him in the act, stroking a cat before visciously stabbing it. In July 2021, Bouquet was jailed for five years and three months after Hove Crown Court found him guilty of 16 offences of criminal damage in relation to the cats, as well as possession of a knife. Sentencing Bouquet, Judge Jeremy Gold QC described his vile spree as "cruel, it was sustained and it struck at the very heart of family life".

Meanwhile, those whose pets were so cruelly targetted by Bouquet brought home the devastating emotional impact of his behaviour. Though tears, Emma O'Sullivan, owner of Gizmo, told the court: "I miss Gizmo every day. After it happened it could not sleep. I spent many months in therapy working through what had happened."

Katerine Mattock, who lived with Alan the cat, also said: "This was a murder of an innocent and much-loved cat called Alan. Alan was my family. He made my house a home. One minute he was running round the kitchen then next he was dead, covered in blood."

In January 2022, it was announced that Bouquet had passed away at Maritime Medway Hospital. At his sentencing hearing, the court had heard that Bouquet had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which had spread to his liver and lungs.

Scarlet Blake

Evil Scarlet Blake live-streamed herself torturing and killing a pet cat before escalating her behaviour, killing another human being. Copying scenes from disturbing 2019 Netflix documentary ‘Don’t F*** with Cats’, in which a killer targets innocent felines, in March 2021 , Blake lured used a cat basket and cat food to lure her neighbour's black cat into her home.

Blake had already bought scalpels, surgical gloves and mounted a camera on a tripod to record the horror incident, with footage capturing her telling the poor animal: “Here we go my little friend … I can’t wait to put you through the blender.” In footage that was later deemed too gruesome to show the court, Blake then put the cat in a ligature before cutting her with a scalpel. The cat was still alive as Blake sliced her chest open, exposing internal organs. The New Order hit ‘True Faith’ played in the background as Blake put the animal in a blender.

As would be highlighted by Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC, this song choice was significant as it was also used byCanadian killer Luka Magnotta, the subject of ‘Don’t F*** with Cats’, who filmed himself asphixiating kittens in a vacuum bag. "The documentary progresses on to show how that person goes from killing kittens to murdering a human being.” Ms Morgan, who described Blake as having a “fixation with violence and knowing what it would feel like to kill someone”, explained: "He posted an eleven-minute video carrying out that killing, with the music ‘True Faith’ by New Order playing in the background.”

An audio clip presented in court, also showed Blake saying, "Well, one day I want to learn how to do this to a person", after slaughtering the pet. Horrifyingly, in July 2021, just four months after this nightmarish slaying, Blake, now 26, brutally attacked Jorge Martin Carreno, 30, as he walked home from a night out in Oxford. After leading Jorge to a secluded riverbank, Blake struck him on the back of the head with a vodka bottle, before strangling him and pushing him into the River Cherwell, where he drowned. His body was discovered the following day.

In February 2024, Blake was sentenced to a minimum of 24 years behind bars, with her own lawyer stating that she would likely never be freed.The Ministry of Justice confirmed that Blake, who is a transgender woman, was being held at a male prison.

Alicia Darcy

On October 12, 2024, officers from Cheshire Police officers were called to a property in Sandbach, Cheshire, where they discovered a dead dog with a Samurai sword still embedded in it. Alicia Darcy, who was said to be intoxicated when she made the call, initially claimed that she'd killed the animal, who'd belonged to her own son, while defending herself, telling officers it had attacked her.

The 54-year-old later confessed that she'd stabbed the dog and left it to die while it rested on the sofa. Cheshire Police said they had found the dog in a "sleeping position" on the sofa with the weapon still embedded in its torso in what one constable described as a "very distressing" case.

At a hearing held at Chester Crown Court in September of this year,Darcy admitted to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place and was given an 18-month prison term. Darcy was also handed a lifetime disqualification order preventing her from owning or keeping dogs. It was confirmed that the sword used in the gruesome incident would be destroyed.

Following the ruling, PC Charlotte Owen stated that the case was "very distressing" for those involved, remarking thar it was "incomprehensible" for an individual to "inflict such violence on an animal". She continued: "The level of cruelty was abhorrent. She left the dog to die with the sword embedded in it. It is incomprehensible how someone could not only inflict such violence on an animal but then be so callous as to leave it to suffer."

Richard Forbes

In January of this year, Richard Forbes, from Shrewsbury, was jailed after killing his landlady’s Pomeranian pet dog. The harrowing events unfolded on June 29, 2024. Forbes, of no fixed abode, had been out drinking before returning home and assaulting his 64-year-old landlady, who fled to a neighbouring address. Police were alerted and Forbes was arrested at the scene whilst attempting to make a getaway in the victim’s car.

After being brought into custody, Forbes bragged about having also harmed his landlady's dog, Comet. Accompanied by officers, the victim returned to the address, where, sadly, the 22-year-old dog was discovered with multiple stab wounds, wrapped in a blanket. Comet, who had suffered a broken neck and jaw, was rushed to an emergency veterinarian, but sadly, euthansia was the only option.

Forbes was charged and went on to plead guilty at Shrewsbury Crown Court, where he was also sentenced for charges relating to grievous bodily harm for a separate incident that occured in Shrewsbury on July 28, 2023, in which he assaulted several people, leaving one man seriously injured.

The judge gave Forbes a seven-and-half-year custodial sentence for all the offences, as well as an order banning him from owning animals for 30 years, and 10-year restraining order against his landlady. He was also disqualified from driving for six years.

Detective Constable Geoff Anslow, from Shrewsbury CID, stated: “This is a horrendous case, involving a sickening act of cruelty towards a defenceless animal and a much-loved pet. The actions of Forbes were wicked beyond belief and have had a devastating impact upon the victim. I welcome the sentence handed to Forbes and hope that justice has now been achieved for the victim and Comet, whom the victim described as the sweetest little dog in the whole world.”

Ian Williams

On 25 May 2023, Cheshire Police received an anonymous phone call reporting that Winsford teenager Ian Williams, had stabbed and killed his American Bulldog after it attacked him at an address in Chester, where he'd been staying. Later that same day, while attending the address on Clover Place, Cheshire Police located a disturbed area of turf in the garden, and began to dig. It was then that they found a dead dog, wrapped in a bloody duvet sheet.

A search of the address followed, with Crime Scene Investigators detecting traces of blood on a bedroom door handle to the bedroom, as well as apparent blood staining on the carpet. Partially bloodstained footprints on the landing were also found.

Williams, 19, was arrested at his home, and denied causing the canine any intentional suffering, claiming that it had attacked him, leaving him with no choice. Following Williams' release from custody, officers assessed his phone and carried out a necropsy on the deceased dog. Phone data showed that Williams had various detailed dog anatomy images stored on his device.

After voluntarily attending a police interview to discuss this new evidence, Williams, who responded "no comment" to all questions asked of him, was observed smirking and rolling his eyes in response to officers' queries. He was subsequently charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and, faced with an overwhelming amount of evidence against him, pleaded guilty to the offence in court on March 21.

On top of being banned from owning dogs for five years, Williams was given a Community Order and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. After sentencing, Detective Sergeant Helen Newman said: "Animals are reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met and they are kept safe and healthy. Owning an animal is a privilege and ensuring appropriate care is a key part of the responsibility we have when looking after them.

"Despite his initial denials that he killed his pet in self-defence, the evidence we found against Ian Williams proved otherwise, and that Williams killed the animal in what was a deliberately cruel attack. Our evidence gathered left him with no choice but to plead guilty and I am glad to see that Williams has today been held accountable for his actions. Alongside his community service, most importantly, he will be unable to own or keep any breed of dog until the year 2030."

Dr Gurpreet Kaur, Chartered Clinical Psychologist & EMDR Practitioner, told the Mirror: When someone hurts or kills a pet, it’s rarely “random”. It’s about what the animal represents in that moment to the abuser: a way to control a household, punish someone, target rage, act on an impulse, or prove 'I can do what I want'.

"The motives usually sit in a few areas: Control and intimidation (including domestic abuse, where harming or threatening a pet is used to frighten and trap someone), punishment, displaced anger and rage, impulsivity, or for personal enjoyment of suffering (sadism). Different routes, same outcome: an animal being used as an object for someone else’s emotions or power.

"Why would someone do this? For some, empathy may be low. Research using brain imaging shows that people with very high callous- unemotional/psychopathic traits can have weaker responses in brain systems involved in registering distress and fear, so another being’s pain doesn’t 'land' as strongly, and doesn’t act like a natural stop signal."

Shedding light on how this behaviour can go undetected, Dr Gurpreet explained: "The abuse can be quietly normalised long before it escalates. In some families or friendship groups, cruelty gets brushed off as 'discipline', 'banter”, or 'they need to learn who’s boss'.

"Rough handling is laughed at. Threats become background noise. Neglect gets minimised as 'the pet’s fine' or 'it’s only a cat'. When a home repeatedly minimises fear, pain, or vulnerability, whether in people or animals, that becomes the culture, and culture can be passed down."

Advising Mirror readers on how to spot and address any concerns, the doctor continued: "Harm doesn’t always start dramatically. Sometimes it starts with a pattern: one person testing power, others looking away, and the animal paying the price.

"It’s also important to name what it’s like to witness this. If you’ve seen an animal being hurt or threatened and you knew it was wrong, but you didn’t have the power to stop it, that can be deeply distressing. People often carry guilt, shame and helplessness, and make a personal meaning out of it: 'I’m a bad person because I didn’t help'.

"But if you were a child, a teenager, or someone who couldn’t safely challenge the person causing the harm, staying quiet might have been your own safety or survival response, not a moral failure. Those moments can become 'hidden hurts' that shape you later: feeling overly responsible, scanning for danger, doubting your judgment, or feeling like you have to prevent harm at all costs.

"If you’re worried about an animal’s welfare, focus on what you can actually observe: threats to harm the pet, repeated unexplained injuries, refusing veterinary care, sudden fearfulness in the animal, escalating aggression in the home, or a wider pattern of controlling behaviour. If the concern is there, it’s reasonable to report it rather than wait for absolute proof."

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