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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kitten killings prompt animal cruelty outcry as Spokane investigators chase leads

Investigators are trying to find a person responsible for killing kittens, including two cases where someone wrapped a USB computer cord around the necks of the cats.

As the crimes continue to go unsolved since summer, the cases have earned social media attention, including posts on Facebook and Instagram by worldanimalnews.com. The post read: “Spokane, Washington officials are allowing an alleged cat killer to roam free without warning the community.”

Nancy Hill, director of the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, said it’s not true that SCRAPS isn’t doing anything about it.

Hill said the two kittens were found more than 2 miles apart. One was dead, and the other had to be euthanized.

The first kitten was found in August, and SCRAPS worked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals who offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction of the person who tortured the kitten.

The second kitten was found in September. That kitten also had a cord wrapped around it but was still alive. It was euthanized because of injuries not related to the attempted strangulation.

“This is an open investigation that SCRAPS is actively working on,” Hill said.

In both cases Hill said SCRAPS had very little information.

“However, we take animal cruelty very seriously, we always investigate and we charge when we have probable cause,” Hill said.

SCRAPS was contacted by a New York based animal rescue organization called Guardians of Rescue, which claimed it had hired a private investigator to look into the kitten killings.

Hill said SCRAPS received “snippets of information” from Guardians of Rescue, but encouraged the group to send a detailed report on who the group had talked to and what it had found.

Mike Martin, an investigator with Guardians of Rescue, said the organization has provided all the information it has to SCRAPS.

Martin said Guardians of Rescue was contacted by animal activists in California, who’d heard about the dead kittens from animal activists in Spokane.

Hill said SCRAPS is putting the information together and will talk to the prosecutor’s office.

“There are no other dead cats with cords wrapped around them that I’m aware of,” Hill said. “I am hoping these are isolated instances that are not even related.”