Holly Springs Cat Euthanized, Woman Angered

Mary Cirimele had two cats and a dog. On March 20, Jack the cat was missing.

Cirimele learned later that a trap had been set in a vacant lot to capture stray animals. Holly Springs police told her that a black cat was taken to Wake County Animal Control. She went there, but Jack was nowhere to be found.

A desk attendant was shocked when he looked at the computer, Cirimele says.

"They had the initials 'pts,' and I said, 'What does pts mean?'" Cirimele said. She was told that it means "put to sleep."

Jack was euthanized, though rules state that animals are kept for at least five days before they can be put to sleep.

Dickee Sloop, director of Wake County Animal Control, would not comment on the case. She is still reviewing the incident and has not met with Cirimele.

Meanwhile, Cirimele has internal impoundment control notes, which show that the cat was put to sleep moments after arrival. Sloop was advised of the incident four days before Mary learned of it on her own, the documents show.

Cirimele wants to make sure that guidelines are in place to require officers to check animals for name tags before they are killed.