An animal charity is offering a reward of up to £1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a group who violently kicked a cat to death.

Three-year-old Salum was discovered near the family home on a road in Shepway.

A teenage boy made the grim discovery and handed the cat back to his owners, Liz and Philip Atkins.

PETA director Elisa Allen said: "It is imperative that any community faced with sadistic and violent act like this takes measures to find the culprits and bring them to justice.

"Animal abusers are a danger to everyone - they take their issues out on whoever is available to them, human or non-human, and must be caught before they act again."

The charity claims past incidents involving cruelty to animals regularly appear in the records of serial rapists and murderers.

A number of other Maidstone residents have reported witnessing or being victim to similar incidents.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Maidstone police on 101 or the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

For more information about the work PETA do to help animals, visit PETA.org.uk