LIHUE — Dozens of cats have reportedly turned up dead or missing over the last two months on Kauai, and the Humane Society is offering up to $5,000 in reward for information leading to an arrest.
“We’ve had some shootings, poisonings, (and) one intentional running over,” said Basil Scott, president of the Kauai Community Cat Project (formerly Kauai Ferals). “There’s five places where we are very certain, or fairly certain, that people are killing cats. And some of it is crazy.”
Between the five locations, Scott said upwards of 50 cats have either been killed or disappeared.
“It’s across the whole island,” he said. “It’s a very troubling trend.”
So troubling, in fact, that KCCP, the Kauai Humane Society and the Humane Society of the United States have teamed up to put an end to the string of animal cruelty and abuse by offering rewards.
“We have received several calls from citizens who have seen or heard several ‘sport type’ cat shootings late at night in public areas,” Robyn Botkin, KCCP’s managing director, said in a release. “They have seen dead and dying cats as well. This is not only a violation of animal cruelty laws but is also prosecutable under firearms and public safety laws.”
The $5,000 will be awarded for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings, according to the release.
Director Penny Cistaro said KHS is seeking solid information. Right now, she said, it has nothing concrete to go on.
“All we have are reports of cats out of feral cat colonies coming up missing,” she said. “We haven’t seen any bodies. We don’t have anything to report.”
In the Poipu area alone, about 15 cats were shot and killed in March, according to Scott. He said a security guard in the area witnessed one of the shootings, which involved several men spotlighting the animal from a car and firing bullets in a public area.
“We’re talking about guys who have been drinking, who have loaded firearms in the car, which is illegal,” he said.
Not long after the Poipu incidents, 12 more cats were shot at Ahukini Pier, Scott said. And at a North Shore location a colony of between six and 12 cats mysteriously disappeared.
One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she has been caring for feral cat colonies for almost a year. Over a two-week period, an entire colony of seven animals disappeared.
“For them to just completely disappear like that is highly suspect,” she said. “It’s really heartbreaking.”
Scott said his hope is that the reward will not only lead to an arrest, but also send a clear message to the community.
“You can’t just go around shooting them,” he said. “This is kind of reflecting a low-value attitude toward animals. So we are very hopeful that we can start to change this attitude.”
On Thursday afternoon, a pair of airport security guards said they patrol the Ahukini Pier area often and hadn’t heard or seen anything suspicious.
The Kauai Police Department also had no knowledge of the alleged crimes, according to county spokeswoman Sarah Blane.
Those with information are asked to call the Kauai Humane Society cruelty hotline at 632-0610 ext. 105, or the Kauai Community Cat Project at 634-4890.
