3 cat killings investigated by police

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was investigating three cat killings over the last few weeks in which owners found their felines disemboweled, gutted or shot.

“We only get about half a dozen animal cruelty calls a month but nothing like this,” said Lt. Raymond Gregory, a sheriff’s spokesman.

“So this is too unusual and too weird.”

The latest incident occurred June 18, when a man’s pet cat was found with its stomach slit open in front of his home.

Another gutted cat was found May 30, while a third cat was found shot May 29, Gregory said.

Police believe the cases are linked. All three killings happened within a one-mile radius of one another in the north part of La Quinta, Gregory said.

Witnesses to any animal violence in progress should call 911, or if someone has any information on the incidents to call the sheriff’s station in Indio at (760) 863-8990, Gregory said.

“The public should also keep an eye on their cats,” Gregory said.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta