Report from Ronnie Patterson
See Photo album for photographs of this locality.
Cat eats Dog ?
January 1997
A sighting from approx. January 1997
A more harrowing report comes from Mr. Alistair McLeod of Livingston. Alistair had just dropped his wife off at work and was returning home at 10.45 pm close to his home in Knightsridge, Alistair was astounded to see:
"A very large cat-like creature crossing the road with a dog or domestic cat in it's mouth. The creature was black and about the length of an alsation dog and about two and a half feet in height, with a long black tail curving upwards. It also had green eyes as it was looking at me as it stood in the middle of the road, for my car headlights where shining on it."
Alistair continued: "The creature came from the direction of the houses at Barclay Way. I stopped my car 25-30ft away and looked on in amazement that of a creature of that size was so close to a housing scheme. The creature had stopped in the middle of he road still holding its prey and looked at me for about two minutes before it slowly crept away, keeping very low down on the road, turning its head towards me as it went. It headed North towards some tree's and bushes by the side of the road. I decided to leave the vehicle to see better. I went to the side of the road and heard the rustling of leaves. I then phoned the police."
Alistair was soon to realise, as did Mrs. McCord, that the police were far from helpful. He was made to feel stupid by them, after hearing them laughing in the background during his telephone call. Truly an absurd situation. Mr. McLeod has ben left wondering wether someone will have to be injured before the police take any notice of the situation.
For such an elusive animal, our black beastie suddenly made another appearance. Mrs. June Fell was in her kitchen making tea when:
"I saw this black animal running at some speed across the field at the back of the house, it stopped and layed down. At first I thought it was a dog. I opened the door and had a better look. It got up and started darting back and forward, left and right, then it took off into the peat field. It was about the size of a small German Shephard dog, all black. It was definitely a cat. It crawled along the ground like a cat and ran off at some speed."
A recent SSPCA report in the Sun newspaper said that a large black panther type cat was seen in the Pentlands, lying injured by the side of the road. I contacted the SSPCA requesting information on the sighting and offering information on the above reports. They did not respond.
The accuracy and similarity of the above accounts are enhanced by the fact that the witnesses are completely unknown to each other. Mrs. McCord and Mr. McLeod showed enough public spirit to actually report their sightings to the police. Despite both witnesses facing ridicule from police officers, (who should have known better.) They remained committed to seek further advice on the matter.
? January 1997
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