Cat poisoner sought in Pinehurst

Pinehurst, N.C. — Police and animal advocates are trying to find out who is poising cats in Pinehurst.

"My cats never left the yard,” Susie Hatcher said.

Hatcher had four cats, but two of them were poisoned, she said.

"He started throwing up and passing blood,” she added.

Hatcher got Whiskers to the veterinarian in time to save his life. However her cat, Blondie, vanished.

"He usually comes right back and he didn't,” she said.

So Hatcher started talking to her neighbors and discovered many of their pets – cats and dogs – had been poisoned or disappeared, too.

“There were balls of meat, and we tried to get them, and they had already disposed of them when we got there,” Barbara Shepherd, with Animal Advocates of Moore County, said of trying to recover poisoned meat.

Advocates say at least 46 cats have been poisoned since July. It has happened in Village Acres, Burning Tree and northern Moore County.

“We are asking pet owners to please keep their cats indoors and their dogs, outside of walking them on a leash,” Shepherd said.

Pinehurst police say Hatcher is the only pet owner to file an official report. For a while, officers stepped up patrols in her subdivision.

“I hope they get them, because they deserve punishment,” Hatcher said of those responsible for the poisoning.

Some of the cats treated by veterinarians tested positive for rat poison. Others were sickened with antifreeze.

Animal Advocates of Moore County is asking anyone with information or a missing pet to call them at 910-944-5098.

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Latest Comments

timbo - You didn't respond to this..."Doing away with cats during the witch hunt days was the reason for the black plague you know."

Sorry. I think the reason for the plague had to do with fleas on rats. The theory is that widowed women tended to have cats. It was noted by the medieval intelligencia those women tended not to get sick and attributed it to the women being witches.

As you intimate, they were not witches, as we know, but because they had cats that ate the rats, they were spared. Not sure how true that is, as it would seem the fleas would jump on the cat in lieu of the dead rat.

Timbo
August 19, 2008 7:19 p.m.

"Timbo; You must be retired that you have so much time on your hands to notice all these animals that you claim cats are killing. Do you actually witness these killings or just assume every dead animal you find was killed by a cat? Your attitude makes you as likely a suspect as anyone."

What? Honestly, your logic escapes me, and probably most everybody else. How you surmised I was retired, counting animal corpses that I may have killed is beyond me.

However, read this http://www.floridaconservation.org/cats/index.htm

or google "domestic cats killing native species"

Have fun!

Timbo
August 19, 2008 7:14 p.m.

monitors won't let me post what I truly feel as I did in golo but I'll try here. A person who chooses to poison an animals is the lowest of all class of animal abuse. It is a long and painful death with the animals going through all forms of torture as it slowly causes horrible side effects before dieing. Even if they survive the animals is messed up for life and usually has to be euthanized.

Ladyblue- the Phoenix
August 19, 2008 6:45 p.m.

"My cats never left the yard,” Susie Hatcher said. Ms. Hatcher, I have a bridge I want to sell you. Get real. Cats are wanderers. They go where they want.

Another case of a blind pet owner who doesn't think their beloved animal can do any wrong. The neighbor's cat always wanted to use our children's sand box as a litter box.

ohmygosh
August 19, 2008 6:42 p.m.

Whoever it is, he's/she's sick...