A thorough investigation by a veterinary pathologist, Nick Nation, in Edmonton, Canada, into the killing of a total of 53 cats in two Alberta cities, clearly indicated to this expert that the cats had been killed by coyotes and not a psychopathic person which was deemed to been a possibility at one time.
The spate of cat deaths in two Alberta, Canada cities comprising a cluster of 34 dead cats in 2007 and 19 more in 2016 had raised alarm bells that a psychopathic individual was at large because the bodies of the cats gave that distinct impression. It appeared that the corpses had been cut with scalpels. It seemed that a person had laid out intestines and some cats had been severed into two halves.
The spate of macabre Killings mirrored that which took place in Croydon, London. For a long time, people thought that there was a manic, psychopathic individual roaming around Croydon enjoying himself killing outside domestic cat because he hated them. All the signs were there and people were concerned because most of us realise that when a person enjoys killing and dismembering animals they often move on to doing the same thing with people. That’s why such animal abuse crimes need to be taken very seriously.
This is also why, in Alberta, a very serious attempt was carried out to get to the bottom of what was going on with this spate of cat killings.
Veterinary pathologist, Nick Nation, took a close look at all 53 cadavers. He worked in collaboration with an animal behaviourist and conservation scientist at the University of Alberta, Colleen Cassidy St. Clair, who is also an expert on coyote behaviour.
Together, they concluded that coyotes did the damage. For example, they argue that coyotoes can fight over a cat and tear the cat into two pieces. Some of the dead cats had coyote undercoat under their claws indicating a fight with a coyote which the cat had lost. Some cats had puncture wounds in the neck matching the canine teeth of a coyote. Other cats had been killed in motor vehicle accidents and then scavenged by coyotes.
All in all, they considered whether psychopaths or people involved in cults had been involved and decided against it. Veterinarians were relieved because they too had thought that there was a possibility that a psychopath was in the area because the cats had been mutilated.
The conclusions in Alberta square up with those by the Metropolitan police concerning the ‘Croydon Cat Killer’. After a few years, they too came to the conclusion that a predator was the cause of the very many cat deaths. They put it down to foxes. I have to say that this conclusion is now more believable because of the work carried out by Nick Nation in Alberta. However, foxes are a different sort of predator to coyotes. The coyote is far more capable. Personally, I doubt whether foxes were involved in killing the claimed more than 200 domestic cats beginning in Croydon and then further afield. I think that mystery is still work in progress but the police have closed the file.
Source: https://www.macleans.ca/
