A CAT owner has called for rat poison to be withdrawn from general sale after her pet ate some that had been left out by her neighbour.

Emma Welsh told York magistrates relations between her and her next-door neighbour Brenda Burton deteriorated after she got two rescue cats.

Ms Burton told the court: "I don't like cats, I don't like what they do, I don't like that they kill for fun.

But I haven't tried to hurt or kill one and I never will."

The court heard on May 21, 2017, Ms Welsh's cat Mouse went through the open door of Ms Burton's garage and ate rat poison mixed with fish that had been left inside.

That led Ms Burton, 68, of Eason Road, being charged with administering a poison and causing suffering to a cat. She denied both charges and was acquitted after an all-day trial.

Magistrates said they could not be sure that the rat poison had been specifically left out for the cat.

The cat made a full recovery.

Speaking after the trial, Ms Welsh said: "I don't think anyone should be allowed to buy rat poison in a shop off the shelf."

She wanted its use restricted to professional licensed pest removers.

Ms Burton told the court she believed she had taken proper precautions to ensure that the poison was not accessible to cats and non-rodents.

Ms Welsh said in evidence that after her cats arrived, Ms Burton started increasing the amount of meat and food she put out for wild animals including foxes and hedgehogs and leaving their garage door open all day.

She also alleged she found rat poison mixed with food between the two women's garages.

Ms Burton denied putting poison between the two garages and increasing the amount of food.

She also denied "enticing" the cat into the garage by putting food for it.

She said she couldn't open the garage door because she has arthritis.

She said over a period of time she had seen five rats on her property and there were rodents on the other side of their road.