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.