Kittens beaten to death
Glen Ridge, NJ (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005
County: Essex
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
A Roswell Terrace resident found two feral kittens he had been caring for bludgeoned to death after briefly leaving his home on Tuesday, June 28, police said.
Police are investigating the incident, according to Deputy Chief Roger Terry.
"It's something out of the ordinary, and there could have been some foul play," Terry said. "We're not sure if it was another animal or [a] human."
Steven Aulicino and his wife, Kathleen, had been caring for the kittens' mother for about 12 years. Whenever the cat gave birth, the Aulicinos would find homes for her litters or take the kittens to the PAWS animal shelter.
But upon returning home on June 28, Steven Aulicino found one of the white-with-black-spots kittens dead on his driveway, seemingly from a blow to the head. He said one of the eyeballs was hanging out of its socket.
Aulicino also saw that the mother cat had been poking around behind his garage recently.
When he checked behind the garage, he saw the other kitten – also white with black spots – bloodied and dead. He estimated that the second cat had been there at least a day, having soaked up the previous day's rain.
"The whole front of its face was crushed," he recalled.
Aulicino contacted PAWS and was later advised to file a police report. He submitted photos of the scene to po-lice.
"Not only was I upset about the animals, but it's the idea that somebody would do that intentionally," Aulicino said.
Although the cats did not live in the house, the Aulicinos fed and cared for the cats, and considered them their family pets.
Since the incident, Steven Aulicino said, he has noticed that the mother cat is limping, possibly from a puncture wound. He wants to trap the cat and take it to a vet to determine whether it sustained an intentional injury.
Aulicino also posted signs along Roswell Terrace warning neighbors to "be alert" and to contact Montclair Police at (973) 744-1234 if they have any information.
Below one of the signs, a group of kids who live on the Glen Ridge end of Roswell Terrace posted another sign, stating: "We love cats… and are sorry for your cats…"
Aulicino now lets his dog out in the yard only when he is at home. He said he didn't immediately suspect any neighbors of foul play. References« NJ State Animal Cruelty Map
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