Serial pet killer may have mutilated, slain 7 cats; $3K reward offered in search for suspect

File photo of a cat. Law enforcement officials are searching for the person or people responsible for killing and mutilating cats in Washington state.

Credit: bella67 / Pixabay.com

Credit: bella67 / Pixabay.com

File photo of a cat. Law enforcement officials are searching for the person or people responsible for killing and mutilating cats in Washington state.

Law enforcement officials are searching for the person or people responsible for killing and mutilating cats in Washington state.

Several cats have been killed in Thurston County since February, according to Erika Johnson, Thurston County Joint Animal Services lead investigator on the case.

On Sunday, a seventh cat was discovered. That cat was found killed and mutilated near Decatur Park in West Olympia.

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In Thurston County on Saturday and Sunday, law enforcement officials went door to door warning homeowners of the serial pet killer.

Pasado's Safe Haven is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the suspect.

"The cats are usually left in public places after they are killed," a release from Pasado's reads. "Investigators believe these cases are linked due to similar mutilations done to the cats' bodies (removal of the spine)."

>> See the release here

Johnson said the cats are strangled and then surgically cut, not professionally but with a knife. The cats killed have been found in Lacey, West Olympia and Tumwater.

If you have information, call 360-352-2510.