6 cats found dead, poisoned in west Houston townhome community

HOUSTON - In one west Houston townhome community, at least six cats have been found poisoned in the last few weeks and no one has been found responsible so far.

The nightmare for Lynda Plant started on Oct. 24 at the Walkers Mark townhome community where she lives. She regularly feeds the area’s feral cats and on that day, some were found dead by poison.

"It was awful to find that many. So that was like three in a day," she said.

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However, that wasn’t the end of it. On Nov. 4, Bjorn Sefeldt, a neighbor around the block, returned home from vacation to a similar scene. "We were greeted by a stink. Close to the water hose, I found what looked like remnants of a cat," he says. He found one more not too far away.

Altogether, a total of six cats have been found dead and both are confident it’s intentional.

"It’s an evil thing to do," said Plant. "A defenseless animal. You don’t do that."

Sefeldt added, "If somebody doesn’t really like cats, they should call the SPCA or somebody that can come and trap them and take them away, not kill them so they die in other people’s yards."

Plant made sure to alert the property management company as soon as the first cat was found, but an email didn’t go out to residents until 10 days later. 

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It read in part, "It has been brought to your attention that there have been several cats poisoned in the community within the last couple of weeks. It is believed that rat poison is being spread around. Pet owners please be cautious while walking your animals."

Plant was not satisfied by the response, saying, "It shows no empathy. It’s a total lack of concern."

Regardless, the real concern is if more cats or other animals will be found dead in the future if the culprit is not caught.

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"I would love to see whoever’s doing it in jail," said Plant.

Poisoning an animal falls under Texas animal cruelty laws which is a felony and punishable of up to two years in jail.

As of the writing of this story, the Walkers Mark property management company has not returned a request for comment.