Police Investigate Animal Cruelty

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By By Joe Furia

Summary

Dock workers at Shilshole Bay Marina found a dead cat in the water with a noose around its neck and a weight on the other end of the rope.

Story Published: Aug 12, 2004 at 10:08 PM PDT

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2009 at 11:43 AM PDT

Police Investigate Animal Cruelty
SEATTLE - A family is reeling after a disturbing case of animal cruelty in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.

Someone tied a noose around a cat's neck, tied a weight to the other end, and threw the cat into Puget Sound.

Workers found it floating under a dock at Shilshole Bay Marina.

A full scale investigation is underway and a reward is being offered to find the person who did it.

"I just hope it's nobody I know," the cat's owner Tara Housden told KOMO 4 News, "I just hope it's nobody I know."

Tara and her fiance live on a houseboat at Seattle's Fisherman's Terminal. She had a baby just 12 days ago, and it was during her stay at the hospital that her cat disappeared.

"It's actually scary," Tara said, "if that person actually lives down here that really is disturbing."

Tara adopted her cat from the Seattle Animal Shelter last year. News of what happened outraged the people who work there.

"When incidents like this happen in our community, it should be very concerning for all of us," said shelter Director Don Jordan. "Both the pet owner and the staff are interested in having the community keep their eyes and ears out for some possible leads on a person or persons who might be involved in this tragic incident."

As the people who live at Fisherman's Terminal wonder how something like this could happen in their neighborhood, Tara Housden talks about the kind of justice she'd like to hand out to her cat's killer.

"It'd be more than appropriate to see this fella keel-hulled. Just tie a rope around the guys waist and take him for a swim."

Seattle's Animal Shelter is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction.

If convicted of animal cruelty, the person responsible for this crime could face a $5000 fine and up to a year in prison.