The Great Outdoors? Not for Cats! 2012

Below is just a sampling of some of the horrible fates that have befallen stray, feral, and free-roaming cats. Countless others have died frightened and alone under porches or behind dumpsters, without anyone ever noticing what became of them.

December 2012/Lawrence, Massachusetts: Over the course of a few weeks, nine cats were found dead in Lawrence (see November 2012). According to a news report, veterinarians “believe the cats may have been swung by their tails and thrown onto a hard surface.”

November 2012/Navarre, Florida: A feral cat, who was found with an arrow through one shoulder, died a day after undergoing surgery.

November 2012/Lower Franklin Township, Pennsylvania: A cat allowed to roam outdoors had to be euthanized after being shot with a pellet gun by an unknown attacker.

November 2012/Orange City, Florida: A cat ran off after being shot with a pellet gun in his or her yard. Two days later, the animal was found in a storm drain, dead from the injury.

November 2012/Lawrence, Massachusetts: Eight cats were found dead in a period of about two weeks. Police suspect that someone was trapping homeless cats and “smashing their skulls.”

October 2012/Las Vegas, Nevada: 8NewsNow.com reported that rewards were being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in the abuse of a mother cat and six kittens. The animals were reportedly rescued by animal control officers after they received a report stating that teens were throwing rocks at the animals. Reportedly, two of the kittens were pronounced dead when they arrived at a veterinary hospital, one was partially decapitated, and another had to be euthanized because of the severity of his or her injuries. The surviving cats were receiving treatment.

October 2012/Temple, Texas: A homeless cat was shot with an arrow through her nose and shoulder. She was dehydrated and starving when she was found and rescued by a good Samaritan.

October 2012/Montevallo, Alabama: Three cats were tortured and killed on a university campus. One of the dead animals was found hanging from a flagpole with hooks through the neck and body.

October 2012/Columbus, Ohio: At least three cats were reportedly killed by being slammed against a wall at an apartment complex. The complex manager had reportedly asked a maintenance worker to remove homeless cats from the courtyard. Some apartment residents reported that blood covered a wall where the animals were apparently cruelly killed.

October 2012/Louisville, Kentucky: A kitten was reportedly tortured by a man at an abandoned hotel.

September 2012/Riverview, Florida: A stray cat was found clinging to life with an arrow through her body.

September 2012/Meshoppen, Pennsylvania: More than 20 homeless cats in a “managed” colony suddenly became ill and/or died from suspected poisoning. Two cats were euthanized at a veterinary clinic after becoming so weak that they could be captured by hand for transport to the animal hospital.

September 2012/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Two feral cats in a colony being fed in northeast Philadelphia were shot to death with a pellet gun. The colony’s feeder said, “I think people think of cats as rodents. There’s a lot of haters who don’t understand about the animals.”

September 2012/Bartlesville, Oklahoma: Three separate cases of cruelty to cats were reported in September. Passing motorists reported that a caged cat was shot in the head and left for dead. Police found the neutered male cat alive and badly injured. He was euthanized at a veterinary hospital because of the extent of his injuries. In the second case, witnesses reported that people had thrown kittens from a moving vehicle in August. In the third incident, a witness reported “seeing three teenage boys swinging and dragging a large, white cat by a string.” According to a news report, “The cat was partially blind, and veterinarians have not been able to determine whether his blindness was due to the tightly-wrapped fishing wire around his neck or was a pre-existing condition.”

September 2012/West Columbia, Texas: A man shot his 3-year-old granddaughter in the leg when he missed the stray cat at whom he was aiming. He claimed the homeless cat had entered his home and stolen food.

September 2012/Blue Springs, Missouri: A man was arrested after hanging a cat, slamming the animal against a wall until he or she was unconscious, and then stomping the cat to death.

August 2012/Spring Hill, Florida: The father of a family that had been feeding a feral cat witnessed approximately six teenagers beat and stab the animal nearly to death before the sadists ran off. He was reportedly taken to a veterinary hospital, where he died from blunt force trauma. He had “suffered from a stab wound, broken ribs, a damaged vertebrae and internal bleeding” as well as suffocation from a badly damaged trachea crushed during the beating.

August 2012/Indian Hills, Nevada: A man was charged with cruelty to animals after admitting to shooting and dismembering a feral cat who had sought safety under his porch.

August 2012/Blackman Township, Michigan: A cat allowed to roam outdoors unsupervised wasshot between the eyes with an arrow. It was surgically removed at a veterinary hospital.

August 2012/Van Buren Township, Michigan: A feral cat feeder called “The Cat Lady” in the mobile home park where she lives reported that more than two dozen cats had been killed in a period of about three weeks by being poisoned, shot, and stabbed.

August 2012/Denver, Colorado: Six decapitated and gutted cats were found over a period of approximately four weeks in yards throughout one Denver neighborhood.

August 2012/Mesa, Arizona: Three cats were found dead and “mutilated almost beyond recognition” in a Mesa neighborhood. A surveillance camera captured one of the cats as she was snatched from her property by an unknown man. A news station reported that 12 cats were unaccounted for in the neighborhood.

August 2012/Columbia, South Carolina: Cats in a Columbia neighborhood were found to have been killed and beheaded by an unknown assailant. According to a local investigator, it “was easy to see the head had been removed with a sharp cutting instrument, not ripped like an animal would have done it.”

August 2012/Minneapolis, Minnesota: A cat was found burnt and impaled by a small American flag in a neighborhood park.

August 2012/Evansville, Indiana: Two cats allowed to roam outdoors without supervision weretortured. One was shot with a BB gun, and another reportedly appeared to have been burned and bludgeoned before escaping a sadist.

August 2012/Mingo Junction, Ohio: A woman who feeds homeless cats in her neighborhoodreported that “several of her cats had been abused.” One of the cats was found doused in “a petroleum-like substance.” Another was shot with a pellet or paintball gun.

July 2012/Missouri City, Texas: A man was indicted on cruelty-to-animals charges after allegedly shooting four cats from his balcony in December 2011. One of the cats was killed instantly, and two others were paralyzed and so badly injured that they required euthanasia.

July 2012/Portland, Oregon: Volunteers working with Multnomah County Animal Services on what was being called a “TNR project” set and then abandoned traps near an apartment complex. One cat was found dead in a trap by a local resident after succumbing to starvation, dehydration, and/or exposure. Another trapped cat was found earlier and released by a concerned citizen who reported that the animal appeared extremely ill. News reports state that the second cat was never found.

July 2012/San Mateo, California: A cat many described as a “neighborhood cat” who had been abandoned and left outdoors was found “bloodied and paralyzed” after being shot with a pellet gun. She will never walk again and may have to wear a diaper for the rest of her life.

July 2012/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A cat was killed and two others were injured by a woman who doused them with ammonia in an effort to rid the neighborhood of homeless cats.

June 2012/Ontario, Canada: A feral cat colony “caretaker” was unaware that a cat she had been feeding had been shot with a BB gun, leaving BBs in her body. The animal was reportedly spayed and reabandoned on the streets.

June 2012/Baldwin Township, Pennsylvania: A frustrated property owner urged the township’s Board of Commissioners to allow people to shoot homeless and stray cats. During a township meeting, he claimed that he had already killed two cats on his property by kicking them into his pool.

June 2012/Fort Wayne, Indiana: A kitten was found with burns to her face and the pads of her feet. A rubber band had reportedly been used to attach fireworks to her tail.

May 2012/New Baden, Illinois: KTVI Television reported that family members looking for their kitten, who had gotten outside, found the animal “in a trash can at the park; the kitten’s neck broken; blood and foam coming from [her] mouth.” Children at the park reported that “[t]he cat was thrown towards [a teenager by another teenager] and he used [a] skateboard as a baseball bat and swung at her and that’s what killed her.”

May 2012/Sacramento, California: A stray cat was so badly burned that euthanasia was recommended after the animal was “doused with an accelerant and then lit on fire,” according to anews report. Witnesses called the police after seeing what they described as “a ball of fire” moving through a park.

May 2012/Ronkonkoma, New York: A feral cat colony “caretaker” found eight kittens dead from “massive skull trauma” and blunt force trauma to their bodies, which were strewn around the industrial park where they were fed.

May 2012/Medford, New York: A cat was fatally shot with an arrow, which was still protruding from the body when the animal sought safety on a citizen’s porch.

May 2012/Prairie View, Arkansas: A man was in critical condition after being shot in the face by a neighbor shooting at stray cats.

April 2012/East Whiteland, Pennsylvania: A man admitted to shooting three cats with a BB gun. One of the injured cats was found by a good Samaritan and taken to a local veterinary hospital, where the animal was euthanized because of extensive injuries and severe pain.

April 2012/Oil City, Pennsylvania: A man is under investigation after a good Samaritan followed the sounds of a crying cat and found a gravely injured orange tabby in a box trap weighed down in a 30-gallon trash can filled with water. A veterinarian found approximately 20 BBs lodged throughout the cat’s body, including in an eye.

February 2012/Corpus Christi, Texas: Homeless and stray cats were poisoned in a neighborhood in Corpus Christi. According to a local resident, “People are tired of feral cats.” Poisoned cats have crawled under homes and have been decomposing around the neighborhood.

February 2012/Shady Cove, Oregon: A teen was arrested for his possible involvement in the case of a stray cat who was likely doused with an accelerant and lit on fire. The orange tabby was reportedly being fed by a family but was left outdoors unprotected.

February 2012/Fort Worth, Texas: Approximately 24 cats suddenly disappeared from a park in Fort Worth where they were being fed. The chair of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee of Fort Worth thinks they were killed. She said, “This happened to coincide with a TNR program, which is trap, neuter, release, that the city is looking into passing.”

February 2012/Sutherlin, Oregon: Two dead cats were found with twine wrapped around their necks.

February 2012/Oildale, California: A man was arrested after a police investigation revealed that he likely captured stray cats and ate them. Some neighbors reported that they think they saw the man skin at least one of the animals while the cat was still alive.

January 2012/Tybee Island, Georgia: At least five cats were poisoned to death and about 12 more were missing from a colony of feral cats being fed on Tybee Island.

January 2012/Roswell, New Mexico: Three homeless cats and a roaming Chihuahua named Mimi were shot to death. Mimi was shot with a .22 caliber round, one cat was killed with a pellet gun, and two cats died after being shot with a BB gun.

January 2012/Phoenix, Arizona: A feral cat feeder, who claimed to be socializing feral kittens by keeping them in an outdoor hutch, found them and several other cats dead, likely from poisoning. A neighbor claimed that her cat, who is allowed outside to roam, was missing and that another cat had been found “severely burned” just weeks before.

January 2012/Virginia Beach, Virginia: A cat allowed to roam outdoors unsupervised reportedly had to be euthanized after being stabbed and then having bleach poured into his wounds.

Take a look at even more reasons never to let your cat outside unattended, and pledge to keep cats safe indoors.

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