‘Big cat’ spotted in village on the edge of Greater Manchester

A ‘big cat’ was reportedly sighted in a village on the border of Greater Manchester and Cheshire last week.

Residents of Ashley – a village situated between Altrincham, Tatton Park and Manchester Airport – are on high alert after a ‘black shadowy animal’ was reported by a member of the public on their way to the pub.

The resident, named Cassy, had initially thought the animal she saw may have been her neighbour’s dog but, upon further investigation, found that said dog hadn’t left her neighbour’s side and was ‘petrified’ of going to the end of the garden.

Speaking to Puma Watch North Wales, an organisation made up of ‘concerned landowners raising awareness of big cat sightings and attacks on livestock’, Casey said she initially mistook the animal for a dog because it was the ‘size of a golden Labrador’.

Google Maps

She explained: “We were walking to the pub and in the bushes adjoining our farm and the neighbouring property we saw a black shadowy animal which was about the size of my neighbour’s golden Labrador.

“I dismissed it as the dog though the colour was different. When I got to my neighbour’s gate I saw her and the dog in the garden and said I thought I’d just seen her dog in the bushes so was surprised to see it back in the garden so quick. But she said her dog hadn’t left her side.

“My sister who I was walking with then said she saw it too and it was a black cat. I said that’s what I thought but had discounted it.

“My neighbour said she thinks she’d see a black cat too and said her dog is petrified of going to the far end of their garden. We concluded it was a mysterious black cat that we’d be more vigilant to catch by camera.”

Google Maps

Puma Watch North Wales has since offered an explanation as to why such animals could be roaming the British countryside, saying: “When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs.

“Owners from across the UK travelled to areas like Wales to release their cats in the remote environment, where small but significant populations have thrived ever since.”

The website goes on to explain that while pumas are mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills, reports of sightings in urban locations are becoming more frequent.

Earlier this year, the Welsh Government responded to the recent spate of sightings and confirmed the steps they take to investigate any reported to them, including taking casts of paw prints.