Tag: felony

Another Serial Cat Killer, This Time Fresh From Prison, Goes Right Back To Killing Strays. Clearly, Existing Laws Are Not Enough

When serial cat killers serve sentences of less than a year due to plea deals and early release for good behavior, how much deterrent value do our laws have? Not much, it seems.

Note, 5/3/2025: We’ve heard from two readers who say the MyNorthWest report contains inaccuracies. We’ve reached out to the police and will follow up with police and courts on Monday to verify the facts and correct potential misinformation. Apologies for the confusion.

Every couple of months, at least in the last year or two, I’ve slowed down on posting, and almost always for the same reason: my cat-related news alerts are  seemingly endless streams of depressing stories about people shooting, strangling or dismembering cats.

It never ends, and sometimes it’s so overwhelming that I’m put off from writing for days. At the same time, I am not a believer in the idea that all animal blogs should be saccharine feel-good fests about fluffy kittens and TikTok videos of cats doing silly things.

There’s always a place for celebrating cats, but if they’re in danger, and if the stories point to wider trends that cat lovers should know about, then I think it’s our responsibility to remain educated. Not only so we can guard against threats to our little friends, but also so we can add our voices to the chorus calling for tougher laws and greater accountability.

That’s ultimately what this is about: accountability.

Stories about two cat serial killers in about a week have made it clear that even the strengthened animal protection law — the Preventing Animal Cruelty, or PACT Act — passed in 2019, during the first Trump administration, raising animal cruelty and murder to the level of a felony, are still not enough. They’re not a deterrent, especially when the convicted abusers and killers end up serving a year or less because prisons are overcrowded and the wider law enforcement community still doesn’t take animal-related crime as seriously as other violence.

Antoine Leander Runner Jr. is a serial murderer of cats. The Seattle man was recently released from prison after serving just a year for a felony animal cruelty conviction.

The 43-year-old’s modus operandi was setting up crude, homemade snares and traps to capture and harm felines. He was also known in cat rescue circles, where he posed as a cat lover and took advantage of programs to get free supplies, including “cat food, kennels, collars, leashes, and treats to lure cats and kill them,” according to MyNorthWest, a Seattle news site.

When locals discovered new homemade traps in Runner Jr.’s old haunts and trail cameras picked up images of the man himself stalking wooded areas, neighbors called police and area shelters. The evidence showed Runner Jr. was allegedly visiting cat colonies at night and had picked up right where he left off. One colony cat’s body was discovered on March 31, “disemboweled and publicly displayed.”

“Animal Control confirmed the injuries to the cats were human-caused,” MyNorthWest reported, adding that it appears Runner Jr. was visiting colonies “every night” to hunt cats.

Above images by u/picardhasyourback, posted to the SeattleWA subreddit. Click on the images to see full-size versions.

Runner Jr. was picked up by Seattle police this weekend after a neighbor spotted him in a wooded area and phoned authorities. The convicted cat killer, who had a new bench warrant out for his arrest, was charged with a misdemeanor, but more charges are likely as police investigate his latest alleged attacks on Seattle-area cats.

The Seattle man was originally arrested for killing cats in 2023, but was released early. The Seattle area was also terrorized by a serial cat killer who stalked the area in 2018, mutilating cats so badly that I won’t repeat the details on this blog out of respect for readers.

It should be made clear that Runner Jr. was not connected to the 2018 killings, but police should reconsider those cases as well because if it turns out Runner Jr. is guilty of these latest cat murders, it will be abundantly clear that he is a high recidivist offender who cannot be trusted to leave the animals alone. He should serve a long, unabridged prison sentence and be subject to constant monitoring when he’s released.

Antoine Leander Runner Jr. was arrested this weekend by Seattle police. Credit: Sarah Seiler/Facebook Georgetown Community Discussion Group

What’s the solution here? Increasingly tough criminal penalties for animal abuse and murder? Expensive monitoring equipment to watch over every cat colony? Education and training for law enforcement so violence toward animals is taken as seriously as it should be?

I hate to keep pointing out that people who harm animals are likely to “graduate” to harming humans, as many studies have shown, because it implies that we should only be concerned about animal abuse for its tendency to turn into human abuse. It obscures the fact that animal life is intrinsically valuable, and that cats — and dogs, many bird species, mammals and marine life — are sentient, with their own thoughts and emotions. But if that’s what it takes for people to take this sort of thing seriously, then it’s worth repeating the point.

Worst Fears Confirmed As Cops Find ‘Dozens’ Of Dead Felines In Accused Cat Killer’s California Home

The suspect had been spotted by several people who live in the neighborhood, who said they saw him luring cats with food and injecting at least one feline with a needle.

For the past two years, people in Santa Ana, California, have sworn there was a serial cat killer in their midst.

The allegations picked up steam this week after a local TV station aired a segment from angry and confused neighbors whose pets disappeared, as well as others who saw the suspect injecting at least one cat and scooping up others. The neighbors shared information on a hyper local platform, zeroing in on one particular neighbor.

On Wednesday, the Santa Ana Police Department arrested 45-year-old Alejandro Oliveros Acosta and charged him with felony animal cruelty in connection with the case. Investigators were able to put together enough information to obtain a warrant, and a search of Acosta’s home turned up the corpses of “dozens” of cats, according to Officer Natalie Garcia, public information officer at the Santa Ana Police Department.

Heartbreakingly, Garcia said there were too many bodies in Acosta’s home for police to put an exact number on how many cats he’s allegedly killed. Police are still putting together the details, and more charges are likely.

A press release from Santa Ana police says the department is working with animal control and a neighboring police department. In addition to the evidence they collected in Acosta’s home, several neighbors positively identified Acosta as the man they saw luring neighborhood cats with food, scooping up a breed cat, and injecting another. One cat was left hanging from a tree, while others simply disappeared, preventing their people from finding closure.

“I saw this same man grab [a] neighbor’s cat, inject it with a needle and some sort of substance,” one local told KTTV, a Fox affiliate in Los Angeles. “And [the neighbor] saw him and she yelled, ‘Hey!’ at him to get his attention. He got up and ran, jumped in his truck and left. And from what we know that cat died, and the owner went and put in a police report.”

Santa Ana is about 10 miles southeast of Anaheim, not far from Long Beach. Acosta was charged and sent to county jail. It wasn’t immediately clear if he’d retained an attorney.

Diocese Suspends Priest For Allegedly Drowning Cats After Animal Cruelty Arrest

The bishop of Little Rock called the allegations “disturbing” and said Thessing would not serve his two home parishes while the criminal case plays out.

An Arkansas priest was suspended by his diocese this week, one day after police found dead cats during a search of his home.

Charles Thessing, a 63-year-old “senior priest” and pastor at St. Michael Church in West Memphis and Sacred Heart Church in nearby Crawfordsville, was charged with two felonies on Tuesday. Police, working from information provided by a tipster, found a pair of dead cats, a water tank where Thessing allegedly drowned the felines, and animal traps, according to the West Memphis Police Department.

The Rev. Charles Thessing. Credit: Diocese of Little Rock

The tipster initially contacted a shelter on Feb. 7 with the information, according to police.

“We were very fortunate that someone, a concerned citizen brought our attention to the situation and we addressed it immediately,” Kerry Facello, Director of West Memphis Animal Services, told local CBS affiliate WREG. “The West Memphis Police Department worked so fast in obtaining a search warrant and allowing us to investigate further and see exactly what was going on.”

In a letter to parishioners at St. Michael and Sacred Heart, Diocese of Little Rock Bishop Anthony Taylor confirmed the arrest, adding “the allegations are disturbing, and as your bishop I take them very seriously.”

“Having heard from numerous voices within the parish, the school, and the broader community; having consulted with others; and having given this matter much prayer and consideration, I have determined that Fr. Thessing cannot continue serving as an effective pastor for your parishes,” Taylor wrote.

Thessing also has supporters, Taylor noted, while asking for parishioners to pray for the priest.

Thessing’s mugshot. Credit: West Memphis Police Department

Thessing, who has not spoken publicly since his arrest, smiled in his mugshot, which was released by West Memphis police. Per the bishop, Thessing will not minister to his parishes or perform any of his regular duties while the case reaches a disposition. The bishop did not say what could happen if Thessing pleads to the charges or is found guilty.

Thessing has been a priest for 37 years, according to the diocese.

Police say their investigation is ongoing, and they’re asking anyone with more information about Thessing to contact them. Under Arkansas state law, aggravated cruelty to animals is defined as “knowingly torturing a dog, cat, or equine,” and is a felony.

If Thessing drowned the cats, as police allege, that would put him at odds with the church. Pope Francis has been particularly outspoken on animal welfare. He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and chose Francis as his name for his papacy, after the Catholic patron saint of animals.

His 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si, was the church’s strongest and most unambiguous condemnation of human treatment of animals, including cruelty, factory farming, exploitation and pushing animals toward extinction with our behavior and our public policies.

In the encyclical, Pope Francis condemned “tyrannical anthropocentrism unconcerned for other creatures” and stated clearly that animal life has intrinsic value, rejecting the argument often used by literalists who claim that God, through Bible verses like Genesis 1:26, created animals and the Earth for our use, as if they’re merely tools or resources for the advancement of the human race.

“[N]owadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures,” the pope wrote.

He also echoed psychological concerns about the mistreatment of animals as a strong indicator that a person will harm humans.

“We have only one heart,” Francis wrote, “and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people.”

South Carolina Man Enlisted His Wife, Mother And 2 Others To Poison Colony Cats, Police Say

The felines were found deceased near open tins of tuna, and laboratory tests confirmed they’d been poisoned.

In early October, a woman who helps manage a colony of stray cats in South Carolina’s Lowcountry stopped by to feed them and was distraught by what she saw.

Six cats lay dead not far from several open tins of tuna. After the woman called for help and a larger group searched the area, they found the bodies of seven more cats and three opossums, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office said.

The cats were spayed/neutered and managed by volunteers from Lowcountry Trap, Neuter and Release Network, meaning their population was controlled and they were routinely monitored and given veterinary care.

Tests showed the cats were poisoned, according to the Professional Veterinary Pathology Services in Columbia and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

While police were looking into the poisoning, they got a tip that a local man had been complaining about the cats and claiming they were a nuisance.

On Thursday, police charged 28-year-old Andrew Dock and 45-year-old Charles Waylon Ulmer with 13 counts of felony ill-treatment to animals with torture and one count of conspiracy. Dock’s wife, Sara Rose Dock, 23, and his mother, Laura Mary Dock, 61, were charged with conspiracy along with Michael Jeffrey Kemmerlin, 30. All five suspects live in or near Summerville, a town about 25 miles northwest of Charleston.

Each felony count is punishable by as many as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, per South Carolina penal code.

Mugshots
Credit: Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office

Dock was the ringleader of the group, according to police, and enlisted the others to help him poison the cats.

“Anyone that is capable of putting out poison and creating that level of pain and suffering is a concern to me as a human in our community,” Carol Linville, founder of a local nonprofit called Pet Helpers, told Lowcountry news station WCSC. ”That is a dangerous person. If they can do it to a cat, they can do it to a dog or do anything else that they deem they don’t want around.”

Locals involved with colony management and animal rescue praised the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office for seeing the investigation through and arresting the suspects.

“The fact that the law enforcement took this seriously and really wanted to see justice and really do their due diligence to make sure that justice is really coming for these cats. I am, I’m very grateful,” said Kayte Williams, one of the women who cared for the colony. “Hopefully nothing like this happens again because the public will know if this happens, you will be prosecuted, you will be charged and you are not going to get away with it.”

Andrew Dock Sarah Rose Dock
Andrew and Sara Rose Dock. Credit: Facebook

On his social media accounts, Dock describes himself as a former welding instructor at Horry-Georgetown Technical College originally from Newark, New Jersey.

All five suspects were released after posting bond, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office. It wasn’t immediately clear if they had retained lawyers, or if they were given return dates for preliminary hearings.

Ohio Woman Gets Prison For Cat-Eating Case That Revolted Nation

Allexis Ferrell pleaded guilty to felony animal abuse, but she still hasn’t explained her actions.

A judge struggled to find words for his anger while handing down a sentence to an Ohio woman who ate a cat in front of her home this summer.

On the night of Aug. 16, 27-year-old Allexis Ferrell grabbed a stray cat and began eating it while it was still alive. Footage from freaked-out neighbors shows Ferrell on all fours in a driveway as she devoured the poor animal.

When horrified police officers arrived and asked Ferrell why she ate a cat, the woman — whose mouth was covered in blood — had no answer.

She still hasn’t explained her actions.

“This is repulsive to me. I mean, that anyone would do this to an animal. And an animal’s like a child. I don’t know if you understand that or not,” said Stark County Judge Frank Forchione. “I can’t express the disappointment, shock, disgust that this crime has brought to me.”

The judge says he considers Ferrell a threat to the community.

Alexis Ferrell
Shocked neighbors called the police when Ferrell attacked the cat.

On Monday, Forchione sentenced Ferrell to a year in prison, which she’ll serve in addition to 18 months’ prison time for two earlier cases involving theft and child endangerment. The one-year sentence is the maximum for felony animal cruelty in Ohio.

The incident made national headlines not only because it was vile, but also because the details weren’t made public until September — after then-candidate Donald Trump claimed immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets.

Unscrupulous social media influencers and clickbait “news” sites added to the confusion by initially tagging Ferrell as one of the pet-eating immigrants, despite Canton’s location some 170 miles northeast of Springfield. Ferrell is an American citizen and was born here.

Oddly, although follow-up stories reported Ferrell’s attorneys petitioned the judge for drug and alcohol abuse treatment for their client, there was no mention of Ferrell being under the influence of drugs or alcohol the night she killed the cat.

Here on PITB we’ve flagged stories that illustrate the disturbing normalization of violence toward cats and other animals, but this incident defies categorization. Hopefully Ferrell is given the help she needs and is prevented from ever owning or interacting with animals in the future.