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October 27, 2004 |
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By Maureen Nandini Mitra Times Herald-Record mmitra@th-record.com |
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Blooming Grove – Four cats, including a 5-year-old male that was brutally
beaten and a 12- week-old kitten, were found dead at the Blooming Grove Humane Society yesterday in a case that local police say is unprecedented. An employee walked into the shelter behind the town highway department around 9 a.m. yesterday and found three adult cats stretched out stiff in the grass near the back porch. The dead included Claudius, a 2-year-old black-and-white tabby; Le Cat, a brown 3-year-old long hair and Benjamin, a 5-year-old brown tabby. Benjamin's jaw and back had been broken and his teeth seemed to have been kicked out, said Ellen Federici, who runs the shelter. Feisty, a 12-week-old brown- and-white kitten, was found dead inside a plastic kennel on the porch. The kitten and the other dead cats showed no visible signs of injury. Nine other cats, including the shelter's 10-year-old mascot, Scrunchie, were missing. There were large clumps of cat fur scattered around the porch. Someone overnight had pulled apart the chain-link fence around the back porch, where the cats usually bask in the sun. None of the six dogs in the shelter were harmed, nor was anything else inside the shelter touched. "This is terrible. It's my worst nightmare come true," Federici said. She worried that some of the missing cats might be lying dead in the woods behind the shelter. It's not clear yet who or what killed the cats. The shelter had been broken into before, but it was usually by people trying to get their impounded pets back, said Detective Sgt. John Heppes. Never before had any animals been harmed, he said. The missing cats are between 3 months and 2 years old. All of them, except Scrunchie, have plastic collars with their names written with markers. The males have blue collars and the females, red. Scrunchie has deformed ears. |
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Anyone
with information about the cats should call the shelter at 496-6199 or Blooming Grove police at 496-9161 |