Calgary Humane Society investigating string of animal abuse, including death of 2 kittens

The Calgary Humane Society is investigating a string of animal abuse incidents in the city, including the death of two kittens.

The animal welfare organization says on Monday, its peace officers were alerted to a dead kitten that was zip-tied to a fence in the southwest Calgary community of Kingsland.

After examination by a vet, the kitten was found to have suffered blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.

Officers were also alerted to the discovery of another dead kitten in the same area Wednesday.

The humane society says this is the most recent and egregious in a series of similar events in the Sandy Beach/Kingsland area over the summer.

Since, May 30, seven kittens, all in the range of six to eight weeks old, have been found in public spaces in various levels of distress, the organization says.

In several of the cases, the kittens’ paws have been tied and they’ve been covered in a tar-like substance and dyed blue.

“These victims could not be more vulnerable,” said humane society director of enforcement, Brad Nichols. “It is incredibly concerning to see an isolated incident of this nature, let alone half a dozen.

“Given the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence, this concern transcends animal welfare.”

He adds the group doesn’t often see cases of cruelty as extreme as this.

“We don’t deal with a lot of “evil” but we only need to look a couple of years back at the Aleeta Raugust case to see that this has happened before and that case, along with likely this one, does highlight the link between animal cruelty and what might graduate to human violence,” Nichols said.

Last September, Raugust, a convicted cat serial killer, was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, the longest sentence ever given for animal abuse in Canadian history.

Nichols says the cases should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone planning on re-homing their pets online.

Calgary Humane Society peace officers are looking for information from the public, as there are no witnesses or surveillance footage of the incident.

If anyone knows where these kittens have come from or who is responsible for the abuse, the human society wants to know. Those with information are encouraged to phone the call centre at 403-205-4455 or submit an online report at calgaryhumane.ca

The group is also reminding Calgarians to keep their cats inside.

“There is a bylaw prohibiting cats from running at large, but this may serve as a worst-case scenario on the risks posed to roaming cats, which would also include traffic, predation and disease,” the humane society added.