Delivery man caught on doorbell camera pelting cat with stones
‘I watched it, and didn’t know whether to vomit or cry,’ pet owner says
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Your support makes all the difference.A distraught pet owner has said she didn't know whether to "vomit or cry" after a delivery driver was caught on camera attacking her "innocent cat".
Lisa Ferraby, 37, was alerted to the "distressing" and "completely unprovoked" attack through her doorbell cam.
She received a warning from her husband, who captured a visitor to their home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, while they were both at work.
The disturbing clip shows how the courier first attempted to swat the cat, named Tumble, with a large letter he had been delivering while shouting at the terrified pet.
But seconds later, he took another swipe at the cat before picking up a large stone from the front garden and hurling it at the pet prompting it to flee the scene.
"I was at work, and I don't really look at the doorbell because I'm in meetings a lot for work," she said.
"My husband called me, and I know that if I get a call outside of my lunch break then I know there is something wrong.
"He told me to go and have a look at the doorbell, I asked why and he told me that Tumble had been hit by the Evri driver."
Ms Ferraby added: "I watched it, and didn't know whether to vomit or cry.
"I was absolutely fuming, I just wanted to leave work, but I couldn't leave.
"It is distressing to see that kind of thing to your own pet, and it is completely unprovoked."
Luckily, Tumble showed no signs of injuries but was "shaken and cowering in a corner" when Ms Ferraby and her husband Andrew got home from work.
She said: "We didn't take him to the vets, we checked him over and he rolls over on his back and lets you look at his tummy and his fur.
"Physically he seemed okay but he was shaken and cowering in a corner when we got back.
"He didn't eat that night which is not like him, he just seemed a little bit off which is understandable really."
After speaking to bosses at the delivery company, Ms Ferraby praised them for acting so quickly in sacking the driver the next day.
The married mother of two added: "I put what happened on social media, and somebody who I know's sister-in-law is in charge of that depot, so I was put in contact with her the same evening.
"I sent her the video on WhatsApp and she was mortified.
"She said she had a meeting with head office the next day, and she said she was going to raise it.
"It was on my LinkedIn, and my husband shared it, and someone who he knows who works in logistics tagged the head of [delivery firm] Evri in it, so he contacted me and I had to email him the video as well.
"But I had a phone call the next day from a lady from head office, saying that they had sacked him.”
Hermes changed its name to Evri earlier this year after the company came bottom in a delivery firm league table produced by Citizens Advice.
A spokesperson from Evri said: "We have apologised to Mrs Ferraby and provided a gesture of goodwill.
"This was highly unacceptable behaviour and we can confirm the courier will no longer deliver on behalf of Evri."
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