Mutilated cats found, dumped in yards

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Pet owners in two Austin neighborhoods are on guard after several cat corpses were found mutilated within the last month. Now neighbors said more cats are missing.

Jerri Johnson lives in one of the neighborhoods where the cats were found.

“I’m shocked," said Johnson. "I can’t believe it that anyone would be that cruel to animals."

Three cats were found mutilated in Southwest Austin. Another abused cat corpse was found in the Shady Hollow subdivision in South Austin.

A report of the mutilated cats was circulated by e-mail over the weekend to members of the Scenic Brook Neighborhood Association. Neighborhood Association President, Desiree Whitely, sent the e-mail after being notified by a concerned neighbor who found two of the mutilated cats in her backyard.

The woman said one cat had been cut in half and the other was just the cat's head. The neighbor said the cats did not show any signs of an animal attack. Another neighbor said he found a different cat that had been split in half.

Senior Deputy, Ken Rush with Office of Constable Precinct Three responded to a call in the Shady Hollow subdivision a couple weeks ago.

"It was a clean cut," said Rush. "It was just in half."

Rush said a woman called 911 reporting the mutilated cat she found in her yard.

"They didn’t know where it came from or how it got in their yard," said Rush. "I did removal for this person because she was too upset to take it out."

The e-mail also notified association members that several missing cat posters have been posted in the neighborhood lately and to be cautious.

In the exchange of e-mails, another neighbor said three of her cats were missing.