Thugs pour acid over beauty queen's cat

Natalie Mitchell, from Huddersfield, who has taken part in Miss Universe and was crowned Miss Grenada Commonwealth 2010, has received abusive phone calls and threatening messages and has had food and drinks thrown at her since becoming a successful beauty queen.

But the campaign of abuse took a sinister turn when Natalie, 31, realised her six-year-old cat Ziya had gone missing before she was found days later covered in burns, missing several teeth and with her ear ripped off.

A vet told her Ziya's appalling condition had been caused by acid or boiling liquid being poured on her fur.

The terrified pet was found by a concerned neighbour after she wandered into his garden, three days after she went missing.

Natalie said: "My neighbour brought the cat to my house and the poor thing was so badly burnt I didn't think it was her.

"But I said her name and she looked up."

She thinks that Ziya has been attacked on purpose by jealous ex-fans with whom she may have lost contact.

She said: "I think this has been done by disgruntled fans who I may have been friendly with on Facebook, but for whatever reason I don't speak to any more.

"I'm sure someone has done this to get back at me and I'm gutted that someone would torture a poor defenceless animal to hurt me.

Natalie started entering beauty competitions 18 months ago and since then she has received a lot of attention from the public, some of it negative.