CAT lovers are being urged to keep watch on their pets after about a dozen have gone missing in the last few weeks in the Tonedale area of Wellington.

The warning comes from Daniel Shears, of Richards Close, whose own cat, Archie, went missing on the afternoon of January 16.

Daniel has put up a £250 reward to help find his beloved pet and has distributed about 1,000 leaflets around Tonedale and much of north Wellington in an effort to find him.

The blanket leafleting has led many people to contact Daniel to say that their cats have gone missing without a trace. He fears someone may be trapping or poisoning the animals.

He said: “The number of cats that has gone missing since November in quite a small area is alarming – you can explain away one or two, even one or two a month, but this is roughly a couple a week, and I have no idea why.”

Daniel has contacted the police, council and all the vets from Wiveliscombe to Taunton. “I have been walking every night, I’m at my wit’s end,” he added. “I even drove to Taunton at 11.30pm one night and searched the Lane Estate near Asda after someone thought they had seen him.”

The police have told Daniel that because cats are classed as free-roaming, unless evidence exists that Archie has been taken there is nothing they can do.

Daniel said Archie is usually happy to wander the immediate area and has not strayed

from home for more than an hour before. He is a two-year-old gray tabby and is neutered and micro-chipped, and wears a green camouflage collar with a green paw print ID tag.

Daniel says Archie is a big part of the family, although generally wary of people, but is worried he may have become stuck or got lost. Daniel is asking people to check their sheds, caravans, garages or other buildings for Archie. Daniel can be contacted on 0773 8080418.