Waunlwyd beast seen on the prowl by dog walker

Nov 29 2007 by Jamie L. Robins, Gwent Gazette

A MYSTERIOUS large black cat has been spotted in the Waunlwyd hills for the second time in two weeks.

Last week we reported how father and son Peter and Gareth Whittle spotted an unusual beast as they were travelling to the Silent Valley rubbish tip on Wednesday, November 14.

Exactly a week later cat lover Denise Selway spotted a similar cat while walking her dog George not far from her home in Hillside Terrace, Waunlwyd.

Ms Selway was unaware of the Whittles’ sighting, featured in last week’s Gazette, until her friend Caroline Road, tried to play a practical joke on her.

“I couldn’t believe it when she told me,” Miss Road said.

“I was laughing for ages so when I went home I decided to play a joke on her.

“I went on the internet and tried to find a story about a sighting somewhere in Wales and I was going to change the name to Waunlwyd to wind her up.

“When I typed it all in and the Gazette story came up from last week I couldn’t believe it.

“Denise still thought it was a wind up but I didn’t have to change anything – it was a mad coincidence.”

Over the years Ms Selway has rescued and rehomed hundreds of cats, she keeps several at her Waunlwyd home and as a result she is very familiar with the shapes and sizes of domestic and feral cats.

“I know exactly what I saw,” she said picking up one of her bigger cats.

“This is a big cat, cats do not grow much bigger than this but the one I saw was much bigger and a different shape.

“It was totally black and it had a long tail, I would say it was about four foot long.

“I was less than 30ft away from it and walked past quite slowly, I feel quite privileged to have seen it.”