PORTLAND, Ore. — A pet cat was found dead and its body dismembered Sunday, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
The crime was intentional, police say, and they are looking for a suspect.
Deputies responded to the 2900 block of Northwest 178th Avenue after a report that the cat had been found in a yard across the street from the owner's home. The owner of the cat was identified and notified.
Kathryn Lyons got her cat Blazer when she was 6 years old. Blazer had been a beloved member of the family for the last 16 years.
"She was really frisky and playful, she was great,” Lyons said. “She was always the best family cat, you know? Exactly what you would picture when you would think of a family cat."
Blazer was both an indoor and an outdoor cat, so up until Sunday morning, Lyons' biggest worry was the cars driving through the neighborhood.
“I just couldn't imagine anyone doing something like that,” she said. “It's hard to think about and it's hard to make any sense of it, I really couldn't imagine why.”
Lyons’ neighbor Eric Bien found Blazer’s head and two paws in his front yard. But the rest of Blazer’s body was not there. Bien said he called the sheriff’s office almost immediately.
“This was something that was not done by an animal, not having any fur, any blood, no struggle, no noise last night, and things to just be placed the way they were, very strange," Bien explained.
The killing has left the usually quiet neighborhood on alert. Neighbors now worry for other pets in the area.
“Very disturbing, I'm a pet owner, I'm a pet lover," Bien said. "This could've been mine.”
“They were thinking about it, they had to physically do it themselves, deliberately, and it makes you question your trust for humanity,” Lyons said.
Police ruled out that the cat was killed by another animal; deputies said the cuts were too clean.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Washington County Sheriff's Office at 503-629-0111.