Animal control seeking public’s help after cat found dead inside trash bag in Charles River
Officials say a Watertown resident found the body of a tortoiseshell cat just eight feet from the shore on Jan. 30.
Authorities are calling for the public’s help after a Watertown resident came across a dead cat in a trash bag laying about eight feet from the Charles River shore late last month, according to a Watertown Animal Control Facebook post.
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The black garbage bag, officials said, had been weighed down by a large rock and was reportedly found during a resident’s regular walk through the area on Jan. 30, near the California Street side of the river, just below the dam.
Inside was an abnormally thin tortoiseshell cat with a tan mark striping its face, from its forehead to its nose.
Officials said they’re unsure whether or not the cat was already dead when it was thrown into the river.
“I believe it is important for our community to know whether this was malicious or if maybe someone did not know how to properly dispose of a cat that passed naturally,” Animal Control Officer Karen O’Reilly said in an email to Boston.com.
According to Mass. general cruelty to animal laws, anyone who deprives an animal of necessary sustenance, cruelly beats, mutilates, kills or willfully abandons an animal may face a fine, imprisonment, or both.
After the Animal Rescue League of Boston offered the funding, O’Reilly said, Watertown Animal Control will be moving forward and performing a necropsy on the feline’s body.
“Hopefully we will have more answers soon,” she said.
People who saw anything suspicious in the area before or on Jan. 30 are urged to contact Officer O’Reilly at 617-972-6446, extension 2.
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