Around 12 p.m. Tuesday, a volunteer with the Whisker City Cat Rescue called police when she noticed an outside cat shelter had been broken into and the cat which had been housed inside was missing, according to KCPQ.
Shoreline Police responded and, on the floor, found a blood-stained, blue blanket and a yellow poncho with green writing on it. The blood stains on the blanket made them immediately think someone had hurt him. Or that it might be the killer's blood.
"My guess is (Quixote) put up a struggle," Whisker City founder April Brown wrote on Facebook.
Just before 5 p.m., the employee called police again and said she found the missing cat dead in the facility's dumpster. The cat’s head had been crushed and Brown wrote on Facebook that "every bone in his body appears to be broken."
King County Animal Control was advised and Shoreline police returned to the scene.
“We all feel a tremendous amount of guilt because we felt so safe here,” said Whiskey City Cat Rescue Executive Director April Brown.
The sanctuary Brown tried to create has been violated by someone bent on violence.
“You have to be pretty sick to violently beat a cat that can’t get away from you,” said Brown.
The 1-year-old cat named Quixote had been at the shelter temporarily, only a couple of months.
His owner showed up Wednesday morning, but he was too shaken to make a statement.
“That cat did not have a chance,” said Brown. “He couldn’t get away.”
According to Brown, someone had to break open a padlock to gain access to the cat in an enclosure that resembles a tiny house.
King County sheriff’s deputies also found a yellow poncho, which had a strange message written on it.
“Homeless need homes, but not in my neighborhood,” Brown said, describing the message. “And then it said Richmond Beach, and it was handwritten.”
Richmond Beach is about an 8-minute drive to Shoreline.
Note: Those familiar with the case and this rescue have wondered if the suspect selected Quixote because he was a Savannah mix. Although he wasn't a pure Savannah cat, he likely could have been sold for, as one person stated, up to $3,000. However, if this person thought they'd just grab a docile cat and run off with it... and Quixote put up a fight when this person tried to steal him, maybe Quixote clawed, bit and fought, angering the person so much that they beat Quixote to death, took him outside and threw his crushed body into the dumpster and fled.
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Police are also investigating another animal cruelty case nearby in Edmonds where a toy poodle had been stabbed to death inside of his own yard in late August.
The two crime scenes are barely 2 miles apart -- but so far police say they share no connection.
“When we see something like this, we’re worried,” said Laura Henderson with Pasado’s Safe Haven Animal Rescue.
“If people in the community suspect animal cruelty is happening, they suspect that someone is harming an animal, they need to say something immediately because this kind of behavior escalates."
The volunteers at Whisker City wonder if they can do anything to regain their sense of security.
“You feel like -- do you want to buy a gun? What do you want to do?” said Brown. “How can we protect ourselves and these precious animals we’re responsible for?”
Brown said new security cameras were up and running at the shelter by Wednesday and volunteers are also trying to raise money for DNA tests to see if some of the suspect’s tissue might have been left behind as a clue.
Seattle Humane is offering up to $5,000 in rewards leading to the arrest and conviction of animal abuser. You're asked to contact the King County Sheriff's Office with information at 206-296-3311 and reference the Shoreline cat incident.
(Q13Fox - Sept 20, 2017)
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