Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(Denver-AP) -- Mutilated cats are turning up in the Denver and Salt Lake areas with sickening frequency: Four more bodies were found in the Denver area over the weekend, bringing the total to at least 41 in the past year.
Police and animal control officers are worried that despite dozens of gruesome attacks in the two states, pet owners still are letting their cats roam outside.
Temma Martin of Salt Lake County Animal Services say people say their pets don't like to stay inside. Martin says they should look at the stakes here.
One of officers' concerns is that those who practice animal abuse may go on to attack people. In several of the year's past cases, it appears the attacker kills the cat, then taunts the owner by bringing back the sometimes bloodless remains.
Authorities say at least 40 mutilated cats have been found in the Denver area in the past year and some may have been killed by another animal. Martin said the toll in Salt Lake City is ten cats and another unidentified animal.
Authorities in the two cities are comparing notes on the attacks and it is unclear whether there is any connection.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
