PANAMA CITY BEACH — A long-awaited report from an animal advocacy group might put to rest fears someone has been mutilating house cats in Bay Point.
Analysts with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) linked the deaths to a coyote, backing up an earlier report. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office had submitted the partial remains from two cats found mutilated in Bay Point in September and October. Officials asked the group to perform a DNA analysis on the remains after neighbors who found them suspected the animals’ injuries were made by humans. Neighbors said the body parts appeared to have been cleanly severed, as if with a blade, and called on deputies to investigate.
The ASPCA analyst tested the remains of the animals for the presence of DNA from other animals. If found, it would be a strong indication the cats were killed by the coyotes, foxes or alligators known to live in the area.
DNA from a coyote was present on one of the cats, and the other had puncture wounds consistent with a coyote’s teeth. That, coupled with the recovery of numerous other partial cat remains in the area, suggested the cats most likely were killed by coyotes, forensic veterinarian Dr. Rhonda Windham wrote in the report released Tuesday.
“DNA evidence identified puncture marks and similar partial feline remains found in close proximity to each other are all supportive that a predator, in this case a coyote, was likely responsible for the deaths of these animals,” Windham wrote.
The ASPCA released a preliminary report earlier that also suggested animal predators were killing the cats, but the Sheriff’s Office left the investigation open until the DNA results were in.