Feline ferocity

With Japan’s rapidly ageing population, I suppose it’s a sad truth that more and more cases of neglect and mistreatment will make the news. Although that said, I didn’t expect this story involving the removal of several finger and toenails to be relegated to a minor, if admittedly unpleasant, incident.

Yet that seems to be the case, as on Saturday at an old people’s home in Saitama, an 88-year-old woman had the toes on her right foot bitten off. The senile dementia sufferer found in her room with all five toes missing.

An open window and bloody paw prints on the floor led workers at the home to hunt down the compound’s cat. A suspicion that was confirmed when the ferocious feline was captured, blood still around its mouth.

A sickening tale and no mistake; arguably made even more disturbing by the fact that the victim was asleep throughout the whole ordeal.