Second Cat Found Hanged Off Tree Branch

For the second time this month, a cat was found hanged in a tree in the Spokane Valley.

A bicyclist, who asked not to be identified, found the large black cat hanging in a pine tree at the corner of 27th and Pierce about 7 a.m. on Tuesday. A green and blue Seattle Seahawks scarf was fastened tightly to the cat’s neck at one end and to a tree branch at the other.

Bob Franzen, the county animal control officer who investigated the hanging, said the cat’s fur was also singed and its whiskers burned off after it was hanged.

The male cat was hanging from a branch about four feet off the ground. Franzen estimated the cat was hanged about midnight.

“It probably was a nice gentle cat,” Franzen said.

The cat’s owner has not been found.

On Aug. 3, a gold and white Persian belonging to B.J. Abbs was found hanging in a tree by a rope at the same wooded site. People out for a morning walk found that.

The hangings are two of the more malicious acts of animal cruelty in the Valley, Franzen said. He could not recall any other instances of animals being hanged during the 10 years he has worked with animal control.

The lot where both cats were found is filled with pine trees. A dirt path through the trees is commonly used by walkers and bike riders.

“There’s little kids who play in that area and it really concerns me,” said the woman who found the cat this week. “If someone will do this to animals, what will they do to people later on?”

Animal Control officers don’t have a suspect in either of the hangings, but are looking into the possibility the two are connected.

Anyone with information about either incident is asked to call Animal Control at 458-2532.

, DataTimes