Woman who put cat in wheelie bin offered police protection

The woman caught on CCTV putting a cat in a wheelie bin was receiving advice from the police amid fears for her safety after RSPCA officers tracked her down.

The video shows the unnamed middle-aged woman placing Lola the cat into a bin outside a house in Coventry.

The RSPCA said she was being offered police protection because of the "backlash against her".

A police spokesman said he "urged the public to leave the matter to be dealt with correctly".

Lola's owner Stephanie Mann said she and husband Darryl couldn't find Lola on Sunday morning but followed the sound of her meows.

"We thought she might be trapped under the car because she sounded like she was hurt, so we followed her cries and eventually found her in the bin," she said.

The couple had previously installed a personal surveillance camera outside their home following a series of thefts in the area.

Mrs Mann said they checked the video tape expecting to discover local youths, or a drunk, had thrown Lola into the bin late on Saturday evening, but were shocked to discover the culprit was a respectable looking woman.

"I was absolutely heartbroken to see how someone could just be so cruel," she told the Coventry Telegraph.

"I don't know what went through her head but it was just disgusting to watch and it broke my eight-year-old daughter's heart."

Mann later posted the clip online, where it has attracted tens of thousands of views.