Hereford man admits trying to hang neighbour's cat
A Hereford man who was caught by neighbours trying to hang their pet has pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a cat.
Karl Dyke, 52, from Escley Drive, admitted the attack on the Siamese cat, last month.
The cat escaped and survived after its owners intervened.
Dyke disputed he was trying to kill the cat and will be sentenced after a further hearing at Hereford Magistrates' Court in November.
The court heard Michael and Tracey Lawrence, who live next door to Dyke, heard their cat Coralie in distress and saw the defendant carrying the pet away.
'Teach her a lesson'
They ran around to his garden, to see him tying a cord around the cat's neck and hanging it in his shed, magistrates heard.
The court was told that after a fight the cat ran away in distress with the cord still attached.
The police later arrested Dyke after they found the cat with the cord still around its neck, tied in a slip knot.
Dyke told the court he had carried out the act and locked the cat in his shed to "teach her a lesson" because she kept going to the toilet in his garden.
The prosecution said he took the cat and intended to kill it by hanging.
Dyke is due to be sentenced on 4 November.