Sadist may target New York cats

According to animal rescuers, a serial patient can douse helpless wild kittens in Queens with a corrosive chemical, resulting in such serious injuries that they had to be euthanized.

Over the past two weeks, at least three kittens from the 102nd Street stray colony in Richmond Hill have been found to have horrific paw injuries—in some cases so severe that bone protruded from their bloodied flesh.

“I hope this isn’t some sort of The Silence of the Lambs situation, but it could be,” animal rescuer Elsie Alten, 30, said, recalling how the stench of rotting skin smelt in the area where the cats were fed.

Megan Licari, president of the Puppy Kitty NYC rescue organization, said that after seeing several kittens with the same severe injuries, she suspected that there might be a perverted sadist on the loose.

“Having three cats with the same paw injury is highly unlikely,” Likari said. “Probably someone is throwing chemicals at them because their skin is completely torn off.”

Dr. Jacqueline Holdsworth, a Long Island veterinarian who treated injured animals, said the injuries were chemical burns that she believed were caused by someone spreading a household chemical or other substance in the area. The wounds were aggravated by additional infections brought by the plague.

The kitten named Ruby’s paws decomposed into bits. Her extensive injuries would have required the amputation of all four limbs, so she was euthanized.

“[She] was a beautiful cat,” exclaimed 33-year-old neighbor Deepa Perso, who has been feeding and watching the animals for the past three years.

Perso said about 10 to 15 feral cats “came like clockwork every day” for bowls of food at her back door.

But when the kittens began to appear with bloody paws, the rest suddenly disappeared.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if someone harms them because many people see them as a nuisance,” she added. “Not everyone sees them the way I see them.”

Alten suggested that someone may have been distributing chemicals such as antifreeze, leading to a bloody horror show.

Is someone doing this on purpose? Maybe someone accidentally put the chemicals in? she asked. “It was really unclear.”

Keeping kittens alive is already expensive.

One of the survivors, a Calico named Juliet, has already accumulated medical bills totaling over $7,000 and may need long-term treatment for her wounds.

Puppy Kitty’s donations helped cover the costs.

Licari said she and other animal rescuers are working with the 102nd Precinct to catch the demon.