Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Cat found hanging by hook through leg

Cat found hanging by hook through leg
Erie Gardens, OH (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, May 25, 2006
County: Ottawa
Local Map: available
Disposition: Open

Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 8877

Classification: Mutilation/Torture

Animal: cat

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Reward: $1,000

Authorities are urging residents to come forward with information that can help police catch the person behind the killing and torture of cats in Erie Gardens.

Pat Kessler, manager of the Humane Society of Ottawa County, said the most recent case happened in late May, when authorities were called to Erie Gardens after a cat was found on the side of a house hanging from a hook through its leg.

"There was blood and everything on the side of the house," Kessler said. "The cat is in really bad shape ... But it did survive."

The identities of people with any information will be kept confidential, Kessler said, adding Port Clinton residents are advised to keep their cats indoors until the culprit is caught. About 15 animal cruelty cases involving cats have been logged since January from Erie Gardens, Kessler said. A person who placed an anonymous call to the Humane Society said they think the cats are being taken to the Little Portage River and drowned. The bodies, however, were never found.

Kessler said there are no signs that the cases are ritual in nature.

"I think it's just pure cruelty," she said.

Two Humane Society enforcement officers, who wish to remain anonymous, said it's difficult to prove a cruelty case without solid evidence. That is the reason people need to step forward with information.

If enough evidence is gathered, the person likely would be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, the officers said.

The charge is punishable by a maximum 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.

Felony charges might follow, the officers said, if it is proved the cats were killed.

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Peta

Case Updates

An animal rights group said it is offering a reward of up to $1,000 to aid in the arrest of the person involved in the injury of a cat found hanging by a hook through its leg. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which offered the reward, said it also was concerned over the disappearance of about 15 cats since January 2006 in the Erie Gardens area of Port Clinton. The hook had been cut or broken by the time investigators got to the scene and the cat and half of the hook were gone.

Sometime later, a woman whose missing cat had returned home took the injured animal to a veterinarian, thinking its injury was caused by a fight. The vet discovered part of the hook in its leg. A humane officer who was visiting the same vet on a personal matter learned of the cat, examined the hook, and made the match with the partial hook found at the house, Ms. Kessler said. Robert Case, a Port Clinton police officer who has investigated some of the complaints, offered an explanation for the missing cats.
He said neighbors upset over stray cats in their yards have been trapping the animals and releasing them elsewhere. The police have tried to reunite cats and their owners. He said he's not 100 percent certain that the cat on the hook was the work of an individual. The cat, he said, may have fallen on the hook from a roof.

The offer of a reward from PETA "came out of the blue," Ms. Kessler said. Kristin DeJournett, a cruelty caseworker for the animal-rights group office in Memphis, said the agency heard about the Port Clinton cat incidents and posted the reward. She said PETA offers about five rewards a week, but she did not have statistics of the number of rewards it pays out.

Source: Toledo Blade - June 17, 2006
Update posted on Jun 29, 2006 - 10:13PM

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The News-Messenger - June 2, 2006

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Cat found hanging by hook through legErie Gardens, OH (US)

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Cat found hanging by hook through leg
Erie Gardens, OH (US)