An expat is demanding justice after his cat and up to three others were allegedly poisoned by a neighbour in Marbella.

Max Vlashchyk told the Spanish Eye today how he has been pleading with authorities to investigate the deaths but is just being passed around between the different forces.

In a critical update on Friday, Max said he was informed that the most recent cat corpse, collected just yesterday from the complex, had been incinerated by the town hall.

‘They claim they didn’t know that we suspected poisoning,’ Max said.

‘A dead cat from the same development, just one week after multiple dead cats and they didn’t suspect poisoning… they have effectively destroyed evidence.’

The Russian native, who has lived in Marbella since he was a child, is now calling in animal rights group PACMA to launch an investigation, and is expected to meet with as soon as possible.

Since the outset, Max said he had had to spearhead the investigation himself, including trying to arrange to take one of the cat’s bodies to a specialised Cordoba laboratory for an autopsy. 

However, the authorities are still refusing to give him the corpse – which has now been kept frozen by the town hall’s Delegacion de Sanidad for over a week – after making him jump through a ridiculous number of bureaucratic hurdles.  

He now fears this body has also been incinerated by the town hall.

Max told the Spanish Eye: ‘I don’t have words to describe it, it’s gut wrenching to see this level of indifference and incompetence. 

‘All the authorities are just putting up more and more obstacles, all I need is the cat’s body to take for analysis but they won’t release it to me. 

‘Now it has been frozen for over a week, and I worry that the evidence will have been lost.’

At least three cats have been found dead of suspected poisoning – on April 1, 4 and yesterday – in the Medina Banus urbanisation, located near Puerto Banus, while a fourth remains missing.

Max suspects one of his eastern European neighbours is behind the deaths, after he allegedly saw him repeatedly kicking cats.

‘He really hates the cats, he has planted sharp thorns outside his apartment to stop them going near his home,’ Max said.

‘I can understand that and never complained about that, but he has been going around kicking them, I have seen him do it myself, he hates them. 

‘A few years ago his wife told me he bought a special gun to shoot the cats.’ 

Despite the urbanisation having CCTV, Max has been refused the chance to look over the tapes until he has a warrant from police. 

However, it seems no one has taken up the case, despite veterinary reports confirming poison having been used against Max’s cat Chupa in February. 

Chupa managed to crawl back home where he was found having seizures, and Max was able to rush him to the vets – who confirmed poison in his system. 

Tragically, the same cat was found dead under a bush on April 4, with its eyes open and no physical injuries, suggesting poison was once again the culprit. 

He was the second cat to be found since the start of this month.

‘When I found the first cat on April 1, I was just in shock, and two more were missing,’ Max said.

‘I started calling everyone, Sanidad (local health authority) came to collect the cat but left no papers or information.

‘Then on Saturday, I found my cat with a microchip, underneath a thick bush, but it was Semana Santa weekend so of course no one was going to collect the body.’ 

On Monday, Max said he went to Seprona, the animal welfare arm of the Guardia Civil. 

They sent a team to collect the body, only for them to tell Max it was ‘too decomposed’, so they left it. 

Sanidad then told him they would collect it, and they put Max through to a ‘local agent’ to arrange a time, however, according to Max, he did not answer. 

‘I tried many times and they kept putting me through to this number that never answered,’ Max claimed. 

‘I left the cat there until Wednesday but they never came. It’s my cat and I love him very much. I couldn’t leave him there any longer, so I put him in a bag and took him to a clinic for incineration.’ 

Max still does not know which force – if any – is properly investigating the case. 

He said the Policia Nacional sent an officer to the complex but he does not have much faith in the process. 

Crucially, he claims, she did not look at or download potentially vital CCTV footage.

In order to take one of the cats to the specialist Cordoba lab, Sanidad told Max, on Monday, to register a petition with the town hall. 

‘It was such a battle,’ Max recalled. 

‘The town hall said to take the petition back to Sanidad. Then Sanidad told me to go to the local police as they would give me permission to take the cat to Cordoba. 

‘Then on Wednesday, I went to the local police with the petition, and they had no knowledge of the incident or poisoning. 

‘They called me back after two hours to say the info I was given by Sanidad was completely wrong and that an internal communication should have taken place between Sanidad and local police. 

‘It’s just unacceptable. We have just a few days left before the security footage will be deleted, and I still don’t have the cat’s body, they are stalling the whole process.’ 

Max said he will not give up and has vowed to get justice for the cats. 

The Spanish Eye has contacted Marbella town hall, Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil for comment.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.