TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - Authorities have launched an investigation after several cats and other animals were found either dead or injured in Tamarac.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, over the weekend, a few people who normally feed a colony of stray cats at a parking lot behind a shopping plaza at 6931 NW 88th Ave., noticed that six cats and raccoons in the area had gunshot wounds and were lying on the pavement.
Now it’s become an all-night affair as people tend the injured cats in the parking lot
One of those people is Hope Gold with Castaways Animal Rescue Effort. In the past week, she said she has been finding dead cats scattered in the parking lot.
“[One of the cats] had been confirmed shot multiple times in the spine,” she said.
Gold said she is currently feeding one of the strays, who is suffering from an eye injury after being shot in the eye.
“I took pictures of the mommy and baby. When I picked the mommy up, I noticed that she was shot in the head,” she said. “The baby had blood all over its face. The baby was shot point blank in the skull twice. Mommy had a bullet under her chin.”
The dead animals were initially only cats, but it has since progressed into other animals like raccoons being found dead.
“The first cats we brought in were [shot with] BB guns. The raccoon was shot with a bullet,” said Gold.
Gold took several cats to a vet to get scanned. An X-ray show bullets clearly visible inside one of the animals.
Now Gold is figuring out how to trap the injured and other stray cats to relocate them to a sanctuary before they are targeted again.
“I think they are scared. They’re still traumatized from what they saw. She’s injured and probably in pain and maybe not very hungry,” said Gold.
BSO officials said they are looking at surveillance video around the area in hopes of identifying the killer.
“I want to see the person who did this caught and prosecuted and the cats safe, because they didn’t ask to be homeless,” said Gold. “The thing that’s scary is usually people start with animals and escalate up to people. We don’t want that. We don’t want any more dead animals.”
The injured cats are being treated at Blue Pearl Center and Cats Exclusive Veterinary Center. Officials are looking for ways to get the cats off the dangerous street and into the sanctuary in Ocala
Officials are also looking for foster homes for people who want to hold these cats until they can get them over to the sanctuary, but for now, all they are asking for is that the person behind these brutal actions against the animals is caught.
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