Original headline: Mystery cat is sighted again
After many months without a sighting, a mysterious big black cat has been spotted again in Ripley.
Kevin Tryner of Greenhill Avenue, Ripley, was walking his dog at the old Ripley Pit site near his home at approximately 9.15pm on September 24, when he spotted the animal.
Kevin described the animal as a black cat the same size as an Alsatian, with a curled tail, pointed ears and yellow eyes.
Kevin said: "I wasn't frightened, I was just curious that I had seen it. It just looked at me and walked away, vanishing into the trees."
A Derbyshire police spokeswoman said: "There have been several sightings of big black cats over the years, but no one has come up with any clues as to where they might be living."
The RSPCA said: "Although we cannot confirm reported sightings of a puma-like big cat in Ripley, we were called out a few months ago by a member of the public who said they had seen a large black cat in woods in Little Eaton.
"On subsequent investigation, an RSPCA inspector found nothing to indicate the presence of such an animal — there was no big cat, nor were there prints, droppings, or carcasses upon which it had fed."
The RSPCA advises anyone who sees an exotic cat loose in the wild to walk calmly away, and then contact their local authority, with as many details as they can provide.
