Thursday, Jul. 09, 2009

Cat killer may be stalking West Columbia

It may be wild dogs or a deranged person, but someone or something is killing cats in West Columbia.

“We are trying to get to the bottom of this,” West Columbia police Maj. Jackie Brothers said.

The 52-officer police force has assigned two officers -- the animal control officer and a uniformed investigator who deals with quality of life issues - to the case, she said.

The cat deaths happened over the last week or so in the residential Westover Acres area near the Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Gardens , she said.

“We have heard reports of four deaths, but we have not been able to confirm four,” she said.

The dead cats have all been disposed of before police or experts could examine the bodies to learn the cause.

That’s a major reason police are keeping an open mind about the cause of pet killings, she said.

“There are some dogs in that area that may account for some of the incidents - we just don’t know if they account for all of them,” Brothers said.

Noting that city ordinance prohibits animals from running at large, Brothers is asking people to keep their cats inside to keep them safe.

“If people were keeping their cats indoors, that would help us greatly,” she said.

She also asked residents to notify police promptly if another cat dies and to not dispose of the body.

“If someone is involved in this type of activity, we’re going to find out who it is,” she said.

In the only incident report filed so far in the cat deaths, James Baxter, who lives at 1133 Woodland Drive, reported that on July 6 between 4 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. someone put a small amount of cat food on a stone in his front yard.

“His case correlates with a rash of deceased cats being found in the neighborhood,” the report said.

The fate of Baxter’s cat could not be immediately learned.

Brothers wanted people to know police are taking the case seriously.

“People love their pets, and I do too,” she said, adding she has a chocolate lab named Fudge.

Get The State newspaper delivered to your home. Click here to subscribe.