Philip Deckert and Jennifer Thomas captured video of two dogs who grabbed their disabled rescue cat from the front steps of their home in the 1500 block of Spruce Street.
On the video, the dogs can be seen pulling on the cat, who struggles to get away. The cat was later found dead near the house.
Deckert is offering a $200 reward for information about the dogs, which he said also threatened him on his porch while they were running loose. Deckert told the Tribune-Star he used a baseball bat to scare away the two dogs, who he fears could attack someone.
Officer Laurie Tharp of city code enforcement said the two dogs are being sought.
“We were all over the neighborhood this morning looking for these dogs,” Tharp said, noting that a dog owner down the street was recently cited for allowing dogs to run loose. However, those dogs did not match the description of the dogs seen in Deckert’s video.
Tharp said dogs on the loose can travel far, so the two dogs in the video may not be from the Spruce Street neighborhood.
“I have every intention of picking these dogs up if we find them running loose,” Tharp said. “They will be taken to the shelter, and if no one claims them, we will probably destroy them.”
Deckert and Thomas said the cat was defending another disabled cat who was being harassed by the dogs. The couple did not see the attack.
They were away from home, and later noticed their male cat “Sweetie” was missing. They reviewed surveillance video and saw the attack occurred on May 24. They later found the missing cat, who came to them with an injured back leg and walked with a limp.
By reviewing the video, Thomas said, she could see the dogs approach the house and go after another disabled cat named Precious. That is when Sweetie jumped into action to scare away the dogs.
“Sweetie was gonna put up a fight,” Thomas said.
The video shows Sweetie trying to get back to the safety of the porch, and that is when one of the dogs grabs him, and they both start pulling on him.
“He died a hero,” Thomas said of the feline’s effort to save Precious.
Deckert and Thomas have other cats who occasionally go out of the house onto the couple’s front porch. Now, the couple has put some chairs onto the porch so the cats can seek shelter under them in case the dogs return.
The couple said they have taken in strays through the years, but can adopt no more animals due to space. Now, they catch strays and have them spayed or neutered, then release the cats back in the neighborhood.
Thomas said she fears the two dogs will return, and they could possibly attack the child she babysits or other elderly people in the neighborhood.
Anyone with information about the dogs is asked to call code enforcement by dialing 311 or the city police non-emergency number at 812-238-1661.
(Tribune Star - May 30, 2017)
