A CAT-LOVING family has electronically tagged their moggy for protection after their other pets mysteriously disappeared. Jackie McGovern says that in the past three years her family's felines have been cat-napped four times. One cat, Heathcliffe, went missing for days and was eventually found covered in diesel oil and tied up in a sack.

Before that three-year-old Topsy disappeared for 10 weeks before being found in Moses Gate. The same cat went missing for good 12 months later.

And a third cat belonging to the McGoverns, a black and white tom called Albert, vanished completely when it was being cared for by Jackie's sister, while the family was on holiday last summer in Ibiza.

Mrs McGovern, 30, says their pet problems only began shortly after they moved to a new house in Wilkinson Avenue, Little Lever.

She said: "When we moved into this house we thought it would be the perfect place for our cats because there's open countryside at the back.

"But it was not long after we'd been here that Topsy first disappeared. We're convinced someone is targeting our cats.

"The cats hardly ever left our garden and if they did they would only be close by. We want to warn other people who have cats what has gone on so they can try and keep an eye on them.

"We looked after our cats very well so we can't understand why they all went missing."

Now Jackie says she and her family - husband Carl, 33, son Simon, aged seven, and daughter Claire, aged five - are too scared to let their last remaining cat, Louis, out of their sight.

In desperation a special micro-chip has been inserted into one of his legs to act as a special identification tag.

Jackie added: "The chip was put into Louis' leg on Monday and it cost us £20 but if it helps us keep him then it doesn't matter. The chip has a special number on it which can be picked up by a scanner and identify Louis."

Bosses at Bolton's Destitute Animal Shelter confirmed that they have heard of similar incidents in the past.

The shelter's joint manager Neil Martin added: "We've heard of cases where some people who have been unhappy about cats and dogs in a particular area have taken matters into their own hands."

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