Report from George Markie
I Was Bitten By The Big Cat In Big Yin Country
By Ken adams in the News of the World, 20 th January 2002
EXCLUSIVE
A TERRIFIED mum has told how she was left bleeding and dazed after being mauled by a vicious big cat near Billy Connolly's holiday home.
Doris Moore, 52, trembled as she revealed how she fought off the beast after it sank its fangs in her leg. She said: 'I was screaming and screaming - I was petrified."
Her ordeal began as she got into pal Wilfred Simpson's car around 9 pm at her remote stables near Connolly's Candacraig House in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire.
The panther-like creature suddenly appeared at the door and began clawing at her trousers.
Rough
Mum-of-two Doris. from Insch, said: didn't hear a growl or anything it was all very quick. like the sound of the wind, as it lunged towards me.
"It was jet black and was scrabbling with its paw at my trouser leg. It then sunk its teeth in, to the top of my thigh and I screamed,
"I was trying to get into the car but it was tugging at my leg. I tried to break free by banging my keys down on its neck three or four times. I hate hitting animals but it was hanging on and trying to drag me down.
"Its coat was rough fur but it was too muscular for a dog. It finally fled but I lost my keys."
Cat-lover Doris. who ran an animal sanctuary for 26 years, added: I'm still bruised and the bite marks are four inches wide - I'm sure it could strike again."
Pal Wilfred, 81, rushed Doris Inverurie Hospital. where she given painkillers.
He added: "The animal raced away afterwards. It was sleek, thin animal, about the size of a labrador.
"I'm a retired sheep farmer I've never seen anything like With a beast like that. you'd expect to find dead sheep lying around"
There have been a number similar sightings in the last years. We told in 1998 how a beast attacked lorry driver Robbie Gray 39, in a forest near Candacraig.
Wilfred added: "It could be same creature. Another woman has seen it too."
News of the World: January 20 th 2002
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