I read an article in yesterday’s newspaper about how mutilations of cats are a “disturbing national trend.” By the way, the article is online at http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/168177_catkill_12met..html . There are a couple of things about the article that trigger my BS alarms, but the author of the article seemed to have zero suspicion that it’s not all true.
First, we’ve had a prolonged drought in the North Texas area (74 consecutive days with no rain and counting), and it seems likely that coyotes are having to come into the suburbs to find their next meal. I saw a coyote walking right through my suburban neighborhood of Plano, Texas, about two months ago, in the middle of the day!
Second, there’s the statement in the article “These sick individuals are very bold, because they’re coming to the property at least twice; once to take the cat and then to bring it back.” Apparently, several of the mutilated cats have been found in fields adjacent to the houses where the cats came from. This really makes one want to apply Occam’s Razor - either some sick person/group is catching our cats, taking them away to mutilate them, and then bringing them all the way back, OR a coyote is killing the cat, taking to the safety of a nearby field, and eating parts of it. One of these seems much more likely to me.
Now the police detective said that “it’s definitely not a coyote.” Of course, that’s what the sherriffs said about UFO cattle mutilations and the policia said about chupacabra attacks, so I don’t put a lot of weight on just his statement. He doesn’t say exactly why he doesn’t think it’s a coyote, I assume because it’s key to the investigation.
There’s another article I found online at http://www.earthfiles.com/earth088.htm about mutilations around Toronto, Canada. I don’t know whether they have coyotes there, but I bet they have some kind of predator. This article seems to make a big deal about how the injuries seem to be “bloodless,” but the UFO kooks also make a big deal out of the same thing regarding cattle mutilations, and debunkers have pointed out that after an animal is already dead, further wounds don’t bleed very much.
So is this a trend of disturbed teenage males? Or are some reporters overlooking the obvious? I certainly have sympathy for people who’ve lost their cats - my own cat disappeared three years ago, I’ve assumed to a coyote. I’m pretty sure that a human couldn’t have come near him. And I don’t doubt that cats are sometimes killed by disturbed teenagers, after all, TWIAVBP. But a trend?
Oh, and one other thing - this same cat who disappeared, once came home with a rabbit that he caught and brought it in my garage. I went out to look at it to make sure it was dead, and the cat broke out in a huge purr. I left him with it, and the next morning there was a rabbit head and a rabbit pelvis with back legs attached. No bloody mess, and no other rabbit parts. I guess if I hadn’t seen him bring it home, I might have assumed that a teenager crawled into the 6-inch space under the garage door and dropped a mutilated rabbit in my garage.