One neighbor said she heard her kids screaming and when she came outside the cat was completely engulfed in flames. She and others did what they could save the the cat, but sadly it died from its injuries.
Residents along Howard Avenue said they saw something they'll never forget come out of an alley way.
"The flames were that high coming off the cats back. That's the Gods honest truth," Angie Hall said. "It stopped right there on the side walk and I grabbed something from my porch and I hit it like 15 times to put the fire out. The cat was screaming and the whole thing was on fire."
"When she finally put the cat out it probably had about 30 percent of its hair and it was completely black. Scorched. It's mouth was open and it was gasping for air," Tanya Spicer said.
Firefighters arrived and when police officers arrived, they saw the cat was in horrific pain, completely black and charred from being burnt alive and beyond saving so one of the officers shot it to end its suffering.
Neighbors said police took an accelerant from the scene and marked it as evidence.
Meg Melampy, president of Joesph's Legacy, said an adult is responsible for the injuries to the cat and she was horrified when she heard about what happened.
"It's horrible. I don't know I don't understand... it's an epidemic why? Why you know? I don't understand the mentality a cat was burned on fire," she said.
The cat had to be eunthanized because it could not survive its injuries.
People in the neighborhood want answers.
"This was a neighborhood cat. Everyone in this neighborhood. We all fed it. It was a neighborhood cat," Spicer said.
FOX19 NOW has not been able to verify with police if there was any wrongdoing or if someone will be held responsible.
Update: Kevin Lee Sullivan has been charged with Felony Animal Cruelty, accused of spraying this friendly cat with lighter fluid and then setting it on fire, watching it burn to death.
VIDEO NEWS CLIP:
(FOX19 - Sept 19, 2017)
