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Andrew Davies' dead cat was dumped outside his home.

It was later found the pet had been force fed with paracetamol tablets.

And Andrew, the leader of a Welsh lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender support group, says his pet cat was killed “because he was gay”.

Andrew, 45, chief executive of the Swansea Bay Unity Project, said the death of his beloved black tomcat Jose (named after football manager Jose Mourinho) was among a catalogue of hate crimes he endured while living in Loughor, Swansea.

He was also told "homos" weren't welcome in the area and that people feared for the safety of their children, and to "take dirty, stinking Aids" away from the area.

Other incidents saw offensive notes put under his door while he was subjected to verbal abuse in the street.

After finding his cat's body dumped on his doorstep, Mr Davies also received a “sympathy card” with a smiling face on it.

Mr Davies describes his experiences in this Welsh Government video:

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He said: “I didn’t know at the time that paracetamol was so toxic to cats but my sister said it had been mentioned on Alan Titchmarsh’s show the week earlier. “Whoever did this may have picked up the idea from that.”

Mr Davies, who grew up in Waunarlwydd, Swansea, and now lives in the city centre, says attacks on him have stopped.

But he gets complaints on a daily basis from members of the gay, transgender, lesbian and bisexual community in the Swansea Bay area.

“It all started when I founded the Unity Project and people discovered I was gay,” he said.

“Notes were slipped under my door, saying ‘homos’ weren’t welcome in the area and that people were fearing for the safety of their children.

“Then I received a letter saying people had noticed a steady increase of ‘weird’ people visiting my home and that this had to stop.

“The weird people being referred to were my friends and staff. It was alarming to think somebody was watching my home.

“When my mum died, I got an anonymous sympathy card saying it was time for me to move on and afterwards I found my pet cat dead on my front door after it was force-fed 26 paracetamol tablets.

“I then got a card saying sorry for the loss of your cat, but with a smiley face drawn on it.”

It was then Mr Davies contacted South Wales Police who supported him in moving to the city centre.

Police forces in Wales are raising awareness of hate crimes as part of Hate Crime Awareness Week.

South Wales Police figures show 217 hate crimes were reported in Swansea in 2013/2014, and that 116 were reported between the start of April and the end of August this year.

Latest figures show 1,810 hate crimes were reported in Wales from 2012 to last year.

A hate crime is defined as a crime or incident that is committed because of “who you are or who someone thinks you are”.

That can refer to sexuality, age, disability, gender, religion, ethnicity or lifestyle choice.