Red Deer RCMP detachment. (Photo: RD News Now)

By Alessia Proietti

Pet owner victim of animal cruelty incidents says Red Deer is shaken

Aug 13, 2022 | 8:24 AM

***WARNING: This story contains details that may disturb some readers.

RED DEER, AB – A Red Deerian whose cat was a victim in a series of animal cruelty incidents this week says it has shaken up the entire neighborhood.

“It makes you wonder,” says the pet’s owner, who wished to remain anonymous. “Now you’re looking at everybody as suspects and you’re watching every vehicle that comes by and you’re really cautious about any other animals and your neighbours’ animals.”

The Red Deer RCMP made the warning announcement on Thursday, August 9, 2022, to the public.

Around 6:30 p.m. on August 9, RCMP was called to a residence in the Michener Hill neighbourhood where an unknown person had grievously harmed the pet owner’s cat, two-year-old Samson.

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The pet owner says Samson was discovered deceased by their neighbour.

“Sam was slit with a knife, like gutted right open. And what’s really scary is, where they dropped the body after, there was absolutely no blood anywhere. So they had done it somewhere and then placed him there strategically for whatever reason,” they said.

During the investigation, RCMP say they learned that two other cats in the neighbourhood had been found beaten in previous days.

RCMP confirm one of the cats had to be euthanized due to its injuries, which Samson’s owner claims was the neighbour’s cat, Beasley.

“I think what they did [the attacker] is they thought he was dead and just threw him outside. He [Beasley] must’ve come to and made his way home and he was limp on their deck. He [the neighbor] came home from work, scooped him up, rushed him to the vet and the vet said he was too far gone and already had maggots developing in his throat that were suffocating him, along with a smashed jaw and collapsed face,” said Samson’s owner.

The pet owner said Samson is currently undergoing an autopsy with Alberta Animal Services to look for any more information on who may have caused the harm.

They say the loss of their cat feels like the loss of a child and has negatively rippled across a once close-knit neighborhood.

“Usually, it’s adolescents that do something like this but what’s terrifying, if could profile it, that’s how murderers start; that’s how serial murderers start. We know this through history; it’s repeated itself,” they said.

“I pray to God that these persons or person can be found so they can get the help they need because they’re obviously very traumatized themselves where they’re having to do it extrovertly. Obviously, there is so much turmoil with them; they’re acting out.”

Due to these troubling incidents, Red Deer RCMP are encouraging pet owners to take extra measures to keep their animals safe.

If you believe you have any information about this incident, please call the Red Deer RCMP at 403-343-5575. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).