Cats are dying at a Miami-Dade condo. Residents think it’s poison
A resident says nearly a dozen cats have mysteriously died at a West Miami-Dade condominium, and police are investigating.
Ofelia Rodriguez said she started finding dead cats at the Laguna Club Condominiums, 318 NW 107th Ave., on Saturday. By Wednesday morning, Rodriguez said she had seen about 10 dead cats.
Most of the cats, believed to be strays, have black smudges around their mouths, she said. Others have blood.
She thinks they’re being poisoned.
“Es horrible,” she told the Miami Herald.
A volunteer for the nonprofit Community Action Targeted Trapping Initiative who rescued the surviving cats told Local 10 that the black smudges found on the cats and several kittens are indicators of poison.
Suspects found and convicted for the cat deaths could be charged with animal cruelty and face five years in prison and/or $5,000 in fines, according to Local 10, which first reported the story Tuesday.
Rodriguez, who has lived in South Florida since she left Cuba 70 years ago, said she’s never seen anything like this.
“Someone is doing this ... but thank God a lot of people are very concerned,” she said in Spanish.
Miami-Dade police are investigating. And Miami-Dade Animal Services is in the process of conducting necropsies on the dead cats to determine cause of death.
The condominium management group did not immediately respond for comment.
Rodriguez hopes officials can put a stop to the deaths soon. She also wants to remind the cat killer of an old saying: “Si tu matas gatos, tienes siete años de mala suerte.” (If you kill cats, you have seven years of bad luck.)
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 5:53 PM.
