A musician was apprehended after a police drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera detected two hazardous African large cats kept as pets without a license.
Warren Polydorou, 57, a former Sinitta backup singer and dancer, kept his Serval cats in a homemade enclosure in the ‘middle of nowhere,’ according to authorities.
One of the animals was captured on film by a police drone prowling about its wire-mesh-enclosed timber framed enclosure in Colby, Norfolk.
North Norfolk District Council began an inquiry, concluding that the cats were housed insecurely and may have constituted a “serious” risk to local residents if they had escaped.
The cats’ owners, Polydorou of Cromer, Norfolk, were discovered, but he lacked the necessary license to keep them under the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act.
Serval cats are a slim kind of cat endemic to African plains south of the Sahara, with black markings. They may weigh anything from 20 to 40 pounds.
They can achieve speeds of up to 50 miles per hour and leap two meters into the air to strike their victim with neck bites, and they can bring down young antelope.
Serval cats are occasionally crossed with domestic cats to produce Savannah cats, a hybrid breed that some people keep as pets.
Savannah cats are known for being energetic, daring, and devoted. They like water play and can even be trained to walk on a leash.
‘Savannah Cats have strong hunting tendencies, therefore they aren’t necessarily suited for families with pets like fish, hamsters, and birds,’ says Purina, a cat food manufacturer.
‘However, because she has a mellow disposition, she makes an excellent companion for other cats and dogs, youngsters, and other adults in her home who were well socialized as kittens.’
Savannah, the first kitten, was born on April 7, 1986. A Savannah cat may cost up to £16,000 in the United Kingdom, depending on the breed.
When Polydorou stood before Norwich magistrates, he acknowledged to keeping the male and female Serval cats without a licence. He currently organises karaoke sessions in nearby bars.
He was fined £40, plus costs, compensation, and a victim surcharge of £674.
According to the council, it invoked Act powers to take the animals and “remove the related dangers.’
The cats are now housed in zoos with “the manpower, facilities, and experience necessary to properly care for large cats.”
Polydorou announced today that he had purchased the Serval cats Simba and Nala as a favor from a friend in London who had become too unwell to care for them for £1,500.
He claimed that he had anticipated the prior owner to hand over the licenses as well as all of their identifying documents, but that this never occurred.
Polydorou said he maintained the cats for 18 months in a large cage on a friend’s property near Colby, where he spent six hours each day visiting them.
‘The former owner picked them up in a Land Rover, and I drove them right over to my friend’s house,’ he said.
‘I had them in a half-acre enclosure with plenty of room.’ They were given lots of space and well-cared for.
‘When pheasants were in season, I gave them Lidl chicken and dead pheasants.’
‘I spent six hours every day with them, hand-feeding them.’ They were little more than colossal pussycats.
‘They never posed a threat to anyone.’ It’s the last thing they’d do to devour someone.
‘They were both really friendly, and I was able to stroke both of them.’ I felt as though I could cuddle the female.
‘They were large cats, but any animal can do it. They’ll be OK if you take good care of them.
‘I applied for a license halfway through, but the council turned me down because you have to get your housing inspected before getting cats,’ she says.
When the municipality took three-year-old Simba and two-year-old Nala and rehomed them in undisclosed different zoos, Polydorou claimed he was upset.
Serval cats are classified as “dangerous wild animals” and must be housed “under situations that pose no harm to the public,” according to a council official.
‘This was an incredibly significant issue for the Council,’ said James Windsor, an Environmental Health Officer for the council.
‘The finding of two Servals being held in the district in lodging that was not designed in such a way that they might have escaped put the local people in grave danger.’
‘Successfully recapturing a runaway animal would have posed substantial difficulties.
‘We are aware that there has been a widespread tendency in the UK for people to maintain Servals privately because they are used to breed Savannah cats, which is a very profitable industry.
‘Where hazardous wild animals are maintained without a license and in a way that endangers public safety, the Council will not hesitate to take strong action.’
‘We are thankful for Norfolk Police’s Rural Crime Team’s help in both detecting the crime and bringing the case to a suitable end.’
The Norfolk Rural Crime Unit of Norfolk Police thanked the Council for their efforts and cooperation in a tweet.
‘Huge thanks to North Norfolk District Council working with us after we uncovered this issue,’ the force stated in a post that included a video of the cat recorded by a drone thermal-imaging camera.
‘We noticed this on a drone fly and thought it didn’t look right.’ ‘I’m not sure why I’m in the middle of nothing.’
‘Police were flying a drone in the area following up on intelligence reports when they spotted the construction,’ a Norfolk Police spokeswoman said.
Polydorou graduated from the Laines School of Theatre Arts in Surrey, according to his online profile.
Before becoming a supporting vocalist and dancer for Sinitta in the 1980s, he featured on TV variety shows, singing alongside Little and Large and Russ Abbott.
According to his biography, he spent a few years ‘traveling the world’ with her, playing in Japan, Spain, and Switzerland.
Polydorou describes the singer and her manager, Simon Cowell, as “excellent pals.”
Perfect World, his own band, was created in 1992. The band solely performed Warren’s own music, and they performed at a number of London venues as well as on Sky TV’s Where It’s At.
In 2003, he returned to Cromer, where he wrote his own songs and performed in local taverns and clubs.
‘He then decided to give it a go by going out and singing on his own,’ according to his website. He purchased all of his own equipment and now travels around clubs, restaurants, and pubs with his own set up.
‘Not only does Warren sing his own songs, but he also sings covers by James Blunt and the Blues Brothers’ Mustang Sally.’
He goes on to say that he anticipates being’shortly signed by Sinitta herself.’
Sinitta is an American singer who has spent the majority of her life in the United Kingdom. She is a well-known television personality who made an appearance on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! in 2011.
So Macho, Toy Boy, Cross My Broken Heart, and Right Back Where We Started From were among her big singles during her golden phase in the 1980s.