May 19, 2009 3:57 pm US/Eastern
$2,500 Reward Offered In Serial Cat Killings
Residents Of Cutler Bay & Palmetto Bay Told To Keep Cats Indoors
PALMETTO BAY (CBS4) ―
The Humane Society of the United States wants to help find the person or persons responsible for the vicious slaughter of cats in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay. The Humane Society has offered a $2,500 reward to the person who provides information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person responsible for killing more than a dozen cats over the past several weeks, according to Jennifer Hobgood, Florida State Director of the Humane Society.
"Anyone capable of mutilating a cat, let alone 18 cats, is certainly capable of hurting people," said Hobgood, "While we hope our reward helps smoke out the cats' killer or killers, The HSUS urges South Florida residents to keep their cats safe indoors."
In addition, Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn has advised residents that they should keep their cats inside their homes until it has been determined who or what has caused these deaths and there is no longer a threat to the feline population.
On Tuesday,
CBS4 News learned six cats have been mutilated in the Village of Palmetto Bay. This is in addition to thirteen cats in Cutler Bay.
Homeowners have been told by authorities that they now are mostly looking for an adult who drives a car instead of a teenager or teenagers who are on foot. The cats are being struck by an unknown object and then mutilated. The perpetrator or perpetrators then place the cats' bodies in plain sight for their families to find. Their bodies have been found near their homes, on sidewalks, front yards and doorsteps.
Miami-Dade Police told
CBS4 News that their detectives and the town of Cutler Bay and the Village of Palmetto Bay are working together.
Alicia Glatzer of Palmetto Bay says she discovered her precious cat Sarah lying in her front yard two Saturdays ago near S.W. 89th Avenue and 152nd Street.
"What I discovered was my cat Sarah on the ground," Glatzer said. "She was mutilated. She was skinned. This was devastating. It was upsetting. She was a doll. She was a wonderful cat. It hurts. I'd like to see whatever happened to the cats happen to him. He is a sick individual. He needs to be caught."
Not far from Glatzer, near S.W. 93rd Avenue and 165th Street in Palmetto Bay, two other families recently lost a total of five cats; they were also mutilated.
"I had three cats," one resident who did not want to be identified said. "One had his face ripped open. The other had his spine broken. This person has got be stopped."
Barbara Wiesinger of Cutler Bay recently found her beloved 15-year-old cat named Cami near her home. Cami had been mutilated, as were five other cats she also discovered by a lake near her home on Ridgeland Drive, not far from S.W. 87th Avenue and 200th Street.
"It's horrible, what has happened to these animals," Wiesinger said. "The ramifications are immense. I mean, where do we go from here?"
Pet owners have expressed concerns about a relationship between animal abuse and serial killers.
And they're not alone; veteran police detectives have written CBS4 to express their concerns. Thomas Carney, Director of Police Services for the North Miami Beach Police dept., wrote, "A couple of facts to consider is that those individuals that abuse animals are five times more likely to abuse women. Almost all serial killers have a history of animal abuse and mutilation. Most people on death row for murder have admitted to abusing animals."
"What is that person going to turn to next? Is it going to be people?" asked Barbara Mesa, whose 13-year-old cat Caspar was mutilated in Cutler Bay.
The Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective Dominick Columbro at
(305) 234-4237 or Miami-Dade Animal Services Investigator Fernando J. Casadevall Jr. at
(305) 884-1102, ext. 240.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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