Click the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch Rob McMillan's report from La Quinta.
You do not see many pets outside in north La Quinta, but owners are not just keeping their pets indoors because of the heat. Police received three reports in the past month with neighbors saying their cats were attacked and killed. Two cats were cut open with a knife and one was shot in the head.
"There's somebody with a very sick twisted mind out there, whether they think it's a summertime, you know, joke or something like that, it still takes a pretty off-balance person to be cutting open innocent animals," said Kitty MacTabish.
MacTabish lives across the street from where a cat was slashed to death last week. The news has her keeping better tabs on her pets.
"We're tending to keep our cats inside. Mine have a cat door that they use during the day, but if I'm gone at night or even if I'm home at night, or if I'm out of town, those cats now are shut inside with a litter box because we just don't know who, what, when or where," said MacTabish.
The latest cat attacked came from a La Quinta home. Neighbors say the homeowners were on their way to work, they opened up the front door and that is when they found their cat slaughtered in the front entrance.
La Quinta police say they don't have any suspects and they have ruled out any accidental deaths.
"One of the reasons that does concern us so much is it does make you wonder if someone is willing to take violence out on an animal, if they might do the same to a human being," said Lt. Raymond Gregory from the La Quinta Police Department.
If you see something suspicious or know anything about the attacks, you're asked to call police at (760) 863-8900.
