3 Pet Cats Possibly Poisoned to Death
The woman was arrested at her home Saturday after Pierce County Sheriff's deputies executed a search warrant and found a bowl of chicken meat with a greenish fluid in her backyard.
The Sheriff's office launched an investigation after the cats' owner, Joseph Ashbaugh, complained his cats died after consuming anti-freeze. Ashbaugh told KOMO 4 News, he believes his neighbor intended to poison the three cats after the woman complained about the pets wandering onto her property.
"It's a painful way to die," Ashbaugh says. "The cats did not deserve this."
Ashbaugh says his cats started showing unusual symptoms on Thursday. First one cat became disoriented, vomited and appeared to be in great pain. Then a second cat came down with the same symptoms.
The family's veterinarian told Ashbaugh the two cats tested positive for anti-freeze and would have to be put to sleep. On Friday the third cat became ill, so the family decided to euthanize that pet as well.
"It's been painful for our family, especially my two boys," Ashbaugh says. "There's a real big hole in this family."
The Ashbaugh family told us they didn't get much response initially from the county. It was not until a private, non-profit animal protection agency got involved that authorities really started looking into allegations the cats were intentionally poisoned.
Mark Steinway of Pasado's Safe Haven was contacted by the Ashbaugh's and helped convince Pierce County Sheriff's deputies to search the neighbor's home.
Pasado's Safe Haven helped gather evidence and is paying for full necropsies (animal autopsies) and toxicology reports on the three cats to help prosecutor's prepare their case.
Steinway showed KOMO 4 News a digital picture Ashbaugh took of the bowl containing chicken and what he (Ashbaugh) claims is anti-freeze in the neighbor's backyard.
A deputy prosecutor confirmed the neighbor woman has been charged with three felony counts of animal cruelty. She faces up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine for each count, although state sentencing guidelines prescribe a maximum of a year in jail for each count.
We tried to contact the woman at her home, in person and by phone, but she would not speak with us. Her lawyer, however, faxed a statement in response to our story.
The statement says the woman wishes to express her heartfelt condolences to the Ashbaugh family for this tragic accident. It also says the woman was attempting to lawfully control pests within her fully fenced yard and intended no harm whatsoever to any domestic animals.
The woman's lawyer says "She (his client) is horrified by the prospect that three neighborhood cats may have entered her property and inadvertently consumed noxious material."