Multiple mutilated cat carcasses have been discovered over the past few days in Saitama city in greater Tokyo, Japan which has alarmed residents and caused officials to beef up the security protocols.
According to the American broadcaster CNN (article beyond paywall), the first grim discovery came into limelight when a woman found a severed head and paws of a brown-speckled cat along the Arakawa River in Saitama city. Days later, the police found the rest of the body hanging from the playground bars of an elementary school.
Two more mutilated cat carcasses were found, one in a field and another on the side of a small town road in the city. There is no evidence that these horrifying acts may have involved human victims, but have left Saitama on edge because of its history with such incidents.
Since the carcasses have been found near a school, teachers have been asked to escort children home and advise them to walk in large groups. A woman in her 80s told Japan’s public broadcaster NHK that she felt “scared and uncomfortable” after hearing about the cat killings and that her concerns went beyond animal welfare.
In recent years, a Japanese man who used to torture animals including cats and posted videos online was jailed. In the late 1990s, another Japanese city Kobe witnessed child killings after a 14-year-old boy with a history of animal cruelty killed a 10 and 11-year-old and injured three others.
A Saitama police spokesperson told CNN that they have stepped up patrols and are probing the cat killings as violations of Japan’s animal protection law. In Japan- it is a crime to kill or injure animals– punishable with jail of upto five years or fines of around 5 million yen ($36,600).
