A pet owner is calling for a change in the way the council collects and identifies dead animals after she says her cat was handed to her in a bin bag.

Patricia Preston was on holiday when a neighbour was told a black cat resembling her pet Fred had been hit by a car and picked up in Singlewell Road, Gravesend.

On her return, she contacted Gravesham council which informed her it had been handed a cat matching the description but that it did not contain a microchip.

She was told she could come down and identify the animal at the council’s waste management facility, where it was being held in a freezer.

Mrs Preston claims after a long wait, an employee arrived "swinging a black bag".

She said: “He did not show any empathy or sympathy, he was just indifferent to the situation.

"It was just another day, another dead animal was his attitude.”

When Mrs Preston requested a scan for a microchip she was told the staff member with the machine was on holiday.

"He did not show any empathy or sympathy... it was just another day, another dead animal was his attitude" - Patricia Preston

She said: “I thought the cat was Fred but as he had been frozen for five days and it was obvious no care had been taken on the position he had been put in when he was put into the black bag.

"It was very difficult to be 100% positive that it was actually him.”

She had to take the cat to Medivets in Parrock Street, which scanned for a microchip and confirmed the cat was Fred.

Now she is calling for a change in council procedure to ensure all animals killed on the road are routinely scanned, as she thinks Fred wasn’t originally scanned, to make sure every effort is made to return pets to their owners for burial or cremation.

She said: “I spoke to the manager who was very apologetic and confirmed he would look into it and make sure the points I had raised would be acted upon.

“I just want to ensure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Stuart Alford, assistant director of operations at Gravesham council, apologised and said he would look into it further.

He said: “Our aim is to remove any dead animal from the roadside as soon as possible after they are reported to reduce distress for passers-by and to reunite pets with their owners as quickly as possible.

“In this case we did scan for a microchip when the pet arrived at our depot but unfortunately our equipment did not pick the tag up.

"However, the pet was logged and tagged as per our normal procedures, meaning we were able to quickly establish it was with us when we were contacted by the owner.

“There was an issue over the location of the microchip scanner on the day the pet was collected by the family.

"I would like to apologise for any additional distress this caused to the family in this instance but to reassure that all pets we collect are treated with respect and compassion at all times.

“The majority of people who we reunite with their pets are thankful we have collected them so they can retrieve their pet and pay their last respects.

"Indeed, this is the first complaint we have received since the current system was introduced a number of years ago.”

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