Original headline:
Driver shocked by sighting of panther-like cat
The owner of a Shropshire riding centre today told of his shock after coming face-to-face with a suspected black panther.
Perkin Bosworth encountered the large black cat while driving along a country lane near Much Wenlock - the third such sighting in three weeks.
He said the animal was far bigger than a large dog and much quicker than his pet dog, Bos, who attempted to chase the animal away.
Mr Bosworth, of Mill Farm Riding Centre, in Hughley, spotted the cat on farmland on May 19 between 9.30am and 10.30am.
He said: "I was driving along a lane heading out of Hughley with my father, Morris, and we both saw the cat. It was black, large and looked to me like a panther.
"We stopped and got out to take a closer look, then my collie, Bos, jumped out of the car and chased after the animal. It easily out-distanced him, then jumped over a hedge and was gone.
"It was quite a powerful creature - we could see its muscles rippling under its sleek coat as it ran - and it was larger than my dog, and he's big for a collie."
The sighting is one of dozens over the past couple of years in the county. It comes the same week as a woman spotted a panther-like cat near Stafford Park Way, in Telford, shortly after a man saw a similar cat in the same area - making it the third sighting in three weeks.
Sceptics may dismiss the stories of big cats prowling the countryside as a legend like the Loch Ness Monster, but the catalogue of sightings across the county continues to grow on a weekly basis.
Mr Bosworth said his sighting had not been the only one in the Much Wenlock area over the past 12 months. He added that a group of people walking on Wenlock Edge had also reported seeing the mysterious black animal.
