At least three fires set in the past two weeks to an outdoor animal shelter in the Penn’s landing area.

In the past two weeks, at least three fires have been set to an outdoor animal shelter in the Penn’s landing area near Pier 70 on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although no cats were harmed in this fire, the SPCA recently responded to a cat found mutilated in the area.

In an interview with CBS Philly News president of the Stray Cat Relief fund (the organization whose volunteers care for the cats) Karen Orourke stated

“I got a phone call at 8:20 this morning I was told a friend had seen the fire it was actually engulfed. Every single feeding station every house anything the cats had for some kind of warmth they burnt to the ground.”

The person setting the fires is also hanging and stabbing cats and throwing them in the water, according to volunteer Alexa Aarem with the Stray Cat Relief fund reported.

This latest fire was intentionally set Saturday morning and is causing not only worry about the cats who lost everything but also for the people in the area.

More photos can be found on the Stray Cat Relief Fund Facebook page where they posted

“Now all of the shelters that took an entire season, thousands of dollars, and hundreds of man-hours to create and upkeep, are completely destroyed.

This was discovered this AM prior to our community event to winterize the cat shelters at the piers. We literally had volunteers on site ready to go with straw to start winterizing the shelters.
This was planned.
This was methodical.
This is sickening.
These are helpless animals who simply sleep and eat among their shelters.

Not only arson, but reports of people at the piers slitting cats throats and dumping them in the river, and hanging them and throwing them in river.
There’s nothing to say about the disturbed individuals who continue to commit these crimes.

This is not just about the cats, this is a public safety concern. These are the people who commit acts like we hear about on the news all of the time.
For four years now, there have been back and forth discussions with the landowners to incorporate additional security measures at the pier to no avail.”

A GoFundMe webpage can be found here for anyone who would like to help. A fundraising event is set for Saturday, November 4.

The case is under investigation. Let’s hope a business in the area can provide a surveillance video.

Stray Cat Relief fund is a 501(c)3 non-profit org providing food, shelter & medical attention for abandoned cats in South Philly. They do not have a shelter facility.

Follow Elisa on Facebook.