Officers and members of Gaston County Animal Control were dispatched to a home in Gastonia Thursday afternoon after a woman called and said she found the cat and kittens dead outside her mother’s home.
Donna Earle told Channel 9 the mother cat Gracie just had four kittens Wednesday.
Earle said before she and her mother, who owns the home, left the house they sat a large box near the side of the front porch to help shelter the cat and her kittens.
Earle said when she returned home Thursday she found someone had stomped and crushed the box and just feet away, were the four kittens, all dead and lined up in a half-moon shape.
“The kittens were wet and had stab wounds,” Earle cried. “I started yelling out for Gracie and that’s when I saw her down the hill by the mailbox.”
The mother cat Gracie was also dead. Earle said an animal control officer told her the cat and kittens had each been stabbed and drowned.
“How could someone be so sick to do that to a mother cat and her newborn kittens,” Earle said. “I don’t understand how anyone could do that to such innocent animals. It’s beyond words.”
Investigators told Channel 9 they were equally disturbed by the crime. They confirmed they believe a human was responsible and said whomever is responsible will face multiple counts of felony animal cruelty charges.
Earle questions whether the unknown suspect(s) initially came to the house for either her or her mother and turned their attention to the mother cat and her young when they realized they weren’t home.
Police said they’ll continue to investigate.
Investigators said the dead cat and her kittens have been transported to a lab in Monroe where necropsies will be performed.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Gaston County Police at 704-866-3320. Tips can also be emailed to the department at gastoncountypolice.org.
(WSOC Charlotte - July 17, 2015)
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