AUSTIN, Texas — A man in an East Austin neighborhood wants a more thorough investigation after he says he found two dead cats placed in his front yard two days in a row.
Todd Williams said stray cats aren't uncommon in his Colony Park neighborhood. On any given morning, he said he sees nine to 10 cats who would come to eat, hang out and walk around his yard.
As an animal lover with a cat of his own, Williams welcomes them with open arms and says it's the right thing to do to help them.
“There are a lot of them that were clearly emaciated and hadn't eaten, and you just wanna make sure that they eat,” Williams said. “They would just roam the neighborhood and not mess with anyone.”
Over the last few months, Williams said he slowly stopped seeing the strays who’d show up in his yard like clockwork every morning.
Two days ago, he found one dead in his yard.
“We thought, ‘OK, maybe it got hit by a car or something.' It happens, right?” Williams said. “Then the second one popped up the very next day that had been shoved in a box, essentially – intentionally – and had passed for some time.”
Williams found two dead cats in his yard on back-to-back days. He said both cats seemed to be six months to a year old and looked like they could've been from the same litter.
“It's horrifying," Williams said. "My partner walked in, stunned, barely able to speak. I mean, we both love animals."
Williams said he called Austin 311, but there wasn't much the agency could do except pick up the cats' bodies.
Williams said he spoke to people a few neighborhoods down who’ve also been seeing dead cats in their neighborhood. He said he’s not sure if someone is dropping off cats at random, but that it can’t continue.
“You don't want to see them hurt intentionally. It's just not that good,” Williams said.
Williams said he’s installed cameras to see if it will happen again and to hopefully catch whoever may be responsible.
KVUE reached out to the Austin Police Department's Animal Cruelty Unit. Detectives said if there's suspicions of animal cruelty, it's best to call 911 right away so officers can come out and collect evidence.
The Animal Cruelty Unit, which is made up of four officers, said it deals with around 800 animal cruelty cases a year.