Cat Burning Suspect Arrested in West Sacramento (UPDATE)

By Yolo County Sheriff's Office

UPDATE: A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in the burning of a cat in West Sacramento, according to the The News Ledeger. A detective who investigated the case was able to establish the identity of the boy, which is not being released because he is a minor. Read the original story below. 

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ORIGINAL STORY: [We have] an urgent message for the public hoping to solve a horrific case of animal cruelty.  Yolo County Animal Services responded to a call in West Sacramento on May 2, 2012 at 11:15 p.m. at Circle Park near Circle Street and Alabama for a severely burned cat.

Witnesses advised Animal Services they had been walking to a friend's house near the park and had observed what appeared to be a ball of fire moving through Circle Park.  When the witnesses went to investigate they found a cat badly burned, but still alive and called for assistance while staying with the animal until Animal Services arrived.

The cat, a stray with no known owner, described as a Domestic Short Hair brown Tabby female, was transported by Animal Services to UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital for emergency care.  Veterinary staff first hoped this very friendly cat would survive this horrible act of animal cruelty, but sadly the cat had to be euthanized by the treating veterinarian last evening, as the pain became unmanageable and there were clinical signs the animal would lose its limbs due to the extent of the burns.  It was determined the cat was burned by being doused with an accelerant and then intentionally lit on fire.

The Yolo County Sheriff's Office, Animal Services Section received $5,000.00 in funding toward a reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the recent case of animal cruelty involving the burning death of a cat in West Sacramento. The Yolo County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has offered $2,500.00 and RedRover, a national animal protection organization based in Sacramento, has also offered $2,500.