She said the kittens ‘fought like the devil for life’
Prue Leith has admitted to drowning a litter of kittens as a child on the instructions of her mother.
The Great British Bake Off judge recalled the shocking act in her memoir I’ll Try Anything Once, admitting the traumatic experience had plagued her for weeks afterwards.
Prue, who was 11 years old at the time, said her mother had told her to kill the bag of newborn cats just hours after their birth.
“My mother and I, then 11, had just drowned some kittens… and for weeks I imagined those poor dead creatures,” she wrote.
“Too many kittens was a frequent occurrence and there had come a day when my mother, unable to find homes for yet another litter, decided to drown the latest batch.”
Prue said she tried to persuade her mother against it, but her protests “were met with a firm, ‘Darling, it has to be done. They are only a few hours old. They will hardly know it’s happening’”.
Despite her mother’s assurances, the TV personality said the kittens “fought like the devil for life”.
“I held the bag under the water until the last kitten had stopped mewing,” she said.
The revelations have sparked a fierce reaction on social media, with one person saying her mum “should have been prosecuted”.
“Don’t breed your animals if you don’t want them to have babies,” they said.
Her mother should have been prosecuted, but they probably weren't bothered by animal cruelty back then. Don't breed your animals if you don't want them to have babies! Nasty.
Dame Prue Leith drowned a bag of kittens as a child https://t.co/X1E9qrv3xK via https://t.co/AEj0kC78vn— GCTN (@GilllianNash) October 2, 2022
Others said they don’t know how she could have drowned the animals, even as a child.
Just read about Dame Prue Leith and her recalling how she drowned a litter of kittens as a child. Somethings you are better off to deal with yourself, I just don’t know how anyone could do that even as a child .
— Mark Williams-Thomas (@mwilliamsthomas) October 2, 2022
While one person said she might have just “cancelled herself”.
https://twitter.com/364690/status/1576510494441361408?s=20&t=XjkheGk5L0SJCMEZ-CnUOA
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