Report from Chris Smith
Track Down The Beast
Terrified mum's plea after she spies cat-like creature
By Lesley Wright in the West Lothian Courier, January 1997
A mystery beast has been spotted in West Lothian. Terrified mum Margaret McCord spied the cat-like creature as she put her daughter's pony into it's stable. She fears pony Freeway could be mauled if the giant cat returns. And she has called for animal experts to be called in to track down the unknown animal.
Said Margaret: "I am quite a sensible person and I know what I saw. There is definitely something roaming about. It wasn't a dog and it wasn't a fox," insisted Margaret. "It looked like a big black cat, I would like to find out exactly what's going about. We should find out what this is before it attacks a person or animals."
Margaret, 49, refuses to go back to the stables at Chickering Cottage, near Breich, alone after her brush with the beast. She spotted the stocky animal last Monday.
"The pony was startled and I looked to see what had frightened her," Margaret said. "I saw the animal creeping along as if it was looking for food." Shocked and scared, Margaret quickly led the pony inside the stable. Then she darted for her car and drove to her home, in Main Street, Fauldhouse. The next day Margaret phoned the police about her sighting. Baffled cops discovered large cat-like tracks in the snow near the stable.
Margaret described the animal as about 3ft long and between 10 and 20 inches high. There have been several sightings of a cat-like creature in various parts of West Lothian over the year. An animal of similar description was spotted by a motorist on the road to Breich, last year.
Added Margaret: "I can remember reading about other sightings, when I saw this it clicked that it could be the same animal. If people keep seeing this animal, isn't it about time experts were brought in to track it down.
A spokesman for Livingston police said: "We take these sightings very seriously. We keep a record of the sightings and anything else we do find. But that's all about we can do, we can't go searching about the hills."
January 1997
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