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Home / New Zealand

Teens run over cat then pull fingers at its distraught owner

Amelia Wade
By Amelia Wade
Political reporter·NZ Herald·
26 Dec, 2019 11:54 PM2 mins to read

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Lilly, 1, was hit and killed by a carload of teenagers in Palmerston North.

Lilly, 1, was hit and killed by a carload of teenagers in Palmerston North.

Carloads of teenage boys hit a pregnant cat, cheered, then sped off only to return and pull the fingers at its distraught owners.

Palmerston North woman Natelle Smith is now on a hunt for the teens to bring them to justice.

Smith was outside her house about 9.30pm on Thursday night and her pregnant tabby cat Lilly was sniffing around her friend's car at the bottom of the driveway.

A silver Subaru and another gold Subaru came "spinning around the corner" and the silver car hit Lilly. The boys in both cars cheered and raised their arms.

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Smith isn't sure if the car swerved to hit the cat.

She ran down to the road to help Lilly when the gold Subaru drove back past.

"We were all distraught and they came back past and did the fingers to us as we were picking her up.

"So they did it on purpose. It wasn't an accident. They did the fingers to us - what does that tell you?"

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Smith said her other cat, Flash, who is Lilly's brother, started howling and tried to pick up his dead sister.

Lilly belonged to Smith's son's girlfriend Brittany Ekenasio, who lives with Smith.

"We're all pretty distraught, as you can imagine.

"It would be different if it was an accident and they took off because they were worried, or anything.

"But the fact that they came back while we were trying to console the children and pick up the cat then they came back and tormented us, no normal people do that."

Lilly.
Lilly.

Smith lives opposite a dairy and has reviewed his CCTV footage to find the number plate of the car but it's not visible in the images.

She's reported it to the police.

Ideally, she'd like to see them charged or held responsible for their actions.

Smith is hoping someone's conscience will get the better of them and come forward or someone will know who owns the car as it's a "very unique colour".

"Someone will hopefully know something, see something and say something.

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"Hopefully someone in that car will think that was a bad thing to do."

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