Mongrel invasion: Residents report cat-killing canines in Paradise Park.

DOH! You don't suppose it may have occured to any of these kitty lovers to keep their precious cats inside? How much would you wager they care not a wit how many of our native animals said cats have torn apart?

Mongrel invasion: Residents report cat-killing canines in Paradise Park. As many as 17 cats dead or missing since mixed-breed pack first spotted, residents say.
Nancy Pelletier thought the violent death of her cat, Missy, was an isolated incident.290805

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Nancy Pelletier thought the violent death of her cat, Missy, was an isolated incident.
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After 15 months living in Paradise Park, she had never seen a stray dog until one recent morning when she discovered two dogs tearing Missy apart right in her front yard.
The cat died on the way to the veterinarian.
Then the second of her three cats, Robbie, disappeared three days later. Then a feral cat she fed daily went missing.
Now a group of residents are warning other Paradise Park pet owners - and parents - to beware.
Pelletier and about a dozen other residents suspect stray dogs are responsible for the death or disappearance of 17 cats in the southside neighborhood.
Neighbors describe the dogs as about 45 pounds each. Some say one dog is black and one is lightly brindled. Others say the dogs are a more solid gray.
After her feral cat disappeared, Pelletier said her neighbors began sharing similar stores about roaming dogs seen attacking cats. The respiratory therapist for St. Joseph's/Candler Health System posted fliers around the area asking, "Has your cat been killed by dogs or gone missing?"
The response to the fliers was alarming, she said. She compiled a list of at least a dozen callers within the past week who either witnessed or suspect their cat was killed by a loose dog.
"I just feel bad that when Missy got killed I didn't do something then," Pelletier said. "We just didn't imagine that these dogs were out having a killing party."
Dunwoody Street resident Mandy Ownley opened her front door Saturday morning to find two dogs attacking a feral cat she had just had neutered the day before.
Ownley, a volunteer with the nonprofit Coastal Pet Rescue, had locked the cat in a cage overnight where she hoped it would recover from its surgery. Still, the dogs managed to bite the cat's legs off while it was still in the cage.
Animal Control director Lt. Brenda Boulware said Paradise Park's roaming dog problem is "old news."
"We have been over there quite a bit looking for some dogs at large," she said.
But she didn't know about incidents within the past month involving cat deaths, she said.
Dyches Drive neighbors and sisters Renee Smith and Jackie Turner said since May 25 they've witnessed four kitty deaths at the jaws of two mixed breed dogs.
A tabby named Tabitha was the latest victim in their area two weeks ago.
"Since then we've been telling the neighbors to please watch out for the cats," Smith said.
Stories of murderous stray dogs in neighborhoods all over the county reach Dr. Jane Liller's Georgetown veterinary clinic a couple of times a year, she said. Usually, the cat's death is accidental, she said, caused by a dog who got carried away in a chase.
But after examining the mangled body of Ownley's feral cat, Liller said the Paradise Park dogs that killed it are more bloody-thirsty than most.
"This poor kitty was trapped and couldn't get out, and they totally tore the cat to pieces," Liller said. "It's really like they're just out to kill."
Ownley worries that children waiting at bus stops could be at-risk as well.
Smith, Ownley and Pelletier each said they've called Animal Control in recent weeks.
But that's not enough, said Ownley. If the cat-eating dogs are ever to be removed from the area, more residents should be reporting the attacks to Animal Control and contacting city and county officials.
"It's unfortunate that maybe residents have not done exactly the right thing, but my goal is to educate people in Paradise Park about what's happening." -->

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