TWO neighbouring families have been left devastated after three pet cats were “murdered” with the use of anti-freeze.

The moggies and two others, which survived, were believed to be poisoned by the lethal substance being poured into feline food left somewhere near the residents’ homes in Hatfield.

The attack has been described as “sick” by both the Hemmings and Twigg families, from Primrose Close.

Ruby Hemmings, who keeps several cats and owned three-year-olds Max and Scrawny from birth, before they were killed a few weeks ago, said: “For me it’s murder.

“If something like that happened to a human it would be; the cats are defenceless they’re not to know.

“People think just because it’s a cat we can get away with it.

“If I could prove who it was I would try prosecution.”

The Shoe Zone worker added: “It’s left a gap in the family. It’s devastating and very upsetting as they were part of the family.”

The treatments so far have cost around �1,000 and Andy, her husband, added he didn’t know how long the other attacked pets would survive for.

“They have kidney problems now and are very restricted,” he said.

Derek Twigg owned George, who was killed.

As soon as he noticed the signs, which include shaking, vomiting, seizures, drinking more and fast breathing, he rushed down to the Royal Veterinary College.

They confirmed the poisoning, but were unable to save George, and Derek called the police.

“If you do not like cats you can shoo them away, but actually poisoning them is not acceptable,” he said. “We have to keep our other cat indoors all the time now because you don’t know what’s going to happen.

“It’s disgusting, you can’t think of any person doing that.

“If the person didn’t like cats why couldn’t they be more human and talk it over instead of doing this.”

Derek, who runs Army Cadet Force – Hertford Detachment, is now hoping for “closure”.

“It’s a problem that’s still ongoing,” he added.

A police spokeswoman said they were dealing with the Twiggs’ incident, which happened between 5pm and 6.30pm, on March 12, as a crime.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said the sweet taste of anti-freeze attracts cats; a small amount would make them very ill or kill them, but the sooner the animal was taken to vets the better chance it had.

Inspector Mel Fisher said: “We don’t know at this stage if this was accidental or deliberate, but we are currently investigating the incident.”

Call 0300 1234 999 anonymously with information.