Investigators are working to find out if someone is trying to poison cats in Summit County after dozens of bowls filled with antifreeze were found all over Sandy Beach Trailer Park in Green.
Resident Donna Boggs loves her pet cat—a Himalayan-Siamese— named Kiki, that spends a lot of time outdoors at the trailer park. Donna was stunned last week to learn that cats like hers were at risk of being poisoned.
"I think it's crazy; why would someone do that? Boggs said. "I'm scared. I just, we never put a collar on my cat. I just had to put a collar on her so that everybody out here knew."
Summit County Sheriff's Office Lt. Karla Bloomingdale said that the unattended antifreeze wasn't only a risk to animals.
"Antifreeze is sweet, so it is a temptation that a child may pick up one of those bowls and ingest what's in there just out of curiosity and wind up ill or worse," Bloomingdale said.
An animal rescue group called "The Humane Bean" had been at the park to help trap, neuter, and, in some cases, return feral cats.
Cameryn Kennedy said that two days after 10 cats were released back to the park, the bowls surfaced, and more than 50 were found.
"We were just blown away, and we just realized we had to get these cats safe," Kennedy said.
After the disturbing discovery, Kennedy said that her rescue group removed eight cats from the park, which are now in foster care. The cats are being monitored to make sure they were not poisoned.
"We take videos of them every time we see them because it does take 24 to 48 hours for the poisoning to kick in. It is a really painful, slow death," Kennedy said.
Authorities say that if they figure out who placed the antifreeze around the park, there could be criminal charges for animal cruelty or attempted animal cruelty, which could be a misdemeanor or even a felony.
Bloomingdale said that at this point, there's no evidence that any animals got sick or died from the antifreeze, but that doesn't change the seriousness of the case.
"We do have some folks who witnessed some things. Right now, it's still under investigation, so we will be following up," Bloomingdale said.
Boggs said she plans to keep a closer watch on Kiki and hopes whoever tried to hurt the cats is held accountable.
"Whatever the law requires to happen to people that do stuff like this. I mean, if it's a jailable offense, they should go to jail," Boggs said.
News 5 reached out to the owner of the trailer park. A man, who answered a phone call, identified himself as a friend of the owner and said the owner "would not be making any comment under the advise of counsel."
On Monday evening, Blaise R. Meeker, an attorney representing owner Zana Genovese, provided this statement regarding the trailer park:
"Mrs. Genovese is aware of the situation that has occurred at Sandy Beach Trailer Park in recent days. She is working with her legal team and cooperating with investigators to gather the facts as quickly as possible. Given that this is an active investigation, additional updates will be provided at the appropriate time."
