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Serial cat killer on the loose again in Tokyo's Setagaya

52 Comments

In a quiet park in Setagaya, Tokyo, where mothers bring their children to play, the local police department has posted a sign with a rather disturbing warning: “There have been incidents of cat abuse, such as the pouring of chemicals on the animals.”

In the park vicinity, a number of injured cats have been found, with badly scalded skin. These victimized cats had been found by members of a non-profit organization, “Neko no Dairinin-tachi" (Cat Representatives). “According to the veterinarian, either boiling water, hot oil or some kind of sulfuric acid had been poured on the creatures,” says NPO representative Mitsuko Nakamura.

Since the first feline victim was found with an injury around its neck in February this year, a total of 16 cases have been reported in five months. Some died because of the severity of the wounds, while the majority could not be captured successfully. Out of those that were rescued, only four cats have survived.

Local police speculate that the suspect may have sprayed the chemical using a syringe or a water pistol from behind while the cat was eating.

Mothers who frequent the park with their children say that the series of attacks are disconcerting. Their worries are justified because residents in the area have either heard of or remember a similar incident from 10 years ago.

Veteran volunteers of the local humane society recall the series of cat killings in the Setagaya area, in which 13 cats died. “Shortly after 13 stray cats had been neutered and released, someone used chemicals and killed every single one of them. We reported the incidents to the police, but nothing was done about it.”

A year later, the local police station contacted the organization, investigating the possible connection between the brutal murder of a family in Setagaya in late 2000, still unsolved, and the cat abuse. Clearly, local residents fear that there is something ominous about the recent events.

Sophia University Professor Emeritus and criminal psychologist Akira Fukushima comments, “The fact that the abuse is directed solely at stray cats and not household pets points to an individual whose tendency is to victimize animals somehow identified as weaker. The possibility of such acts escalating to a random assault targeting, in particular, children and women should not be entirely dismissed.”

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52 Comments
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OMG! Not a serial cat killer! Personally, I really do not care much for cats and agree that stray cats should be rounded up and killed off. Why? They are dirty, noisy and a nuisance! Cat owners should make sure their cats are not just out making thousands of baby kittens in Setagaya nor anywhere else.

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Veteran volunteers of the local humane society recall the series of cat killings in the Setagaya area, in which 13 cats died. “Shortly after 13 stray cats had been neutered and released..."

Why does the "humane" society just "release" cats back into the city? Instead of either trying to find homes for them, or putting them to sleep?

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It's well known that perverts who start out hurting small animals for the fun of it go on to hurting small humans. Whoever's doing this needs to be caught quickly and taught what it feels like to have caustic chemicals shot at you from a water pistol.

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Why does the "humane" society just "release" cats back into the city? Instead of either trying to find homes for them, or putting them to sleep?

When a cat has been born and raised as a stray, it's very difficult for it to adapt to life in a family. And there is no reason at all to euthanise healthy animals just because some humans find them inconvenient.

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how stupid are the above mentioned professors and cops that none of the see the motive for the killings as keeping are clean from stray cats. that being said the perpetrator is not the sharpest tool in the box as stray cats do help cleaning streets from rats.

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This seems like torture. If you want to kill stray cats make it instant. Then use the hide for something. 動物は最高の素材です。

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Hope they catch this guy/girl in the act and SMASH him/her.

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Tony the Tiger on a killing spree?!?!?

Oh wait . . . "serial" cat killer".

Here's a great idea: how about the humane society stops releasing stray cats into the city.

How is that even legal?

Sophia University Professor Emeritus and criminal psychologist Akira Fukushima comments, “The fact that the abuse is directed solely at stray cats and not household pets points to an individual whose tendency is to victimize animals somehow identified as weaker. The possibility of such acts escalating to a random assault targeting, in particular, children and women should not be entirely dismissed.”

. . . or it points to someone pissed off about stray cats in the park, Clouseau.

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For those that do not see any problem with hurting animals. Know that most if not all serial killers like to hurt animals.

In the past, the presence of three behavioral markers, known as the Macdonald triad, was found in some children who went on to develop sociopathy. The triad consists of bedwetting, a tendency to abuse animals, and pyromania.

The Macdonald triad (also known as the triad of sociopathy) is a set of three behavioral characteristics which are associated with sociopathic behavior. The triad was first identified by J.M. Macdonald in "The Threat to Kill", a 1963 paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Killing or hurting animals is just part of their life style.

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Well, with all you cat haters out there it's no wonder we live in such a cruel world. Your lack of compassion, stupidity and ignorance makes me realise why we still live in a world full of greed, with war, with hunger and so forth. Cats belong in this world as much as anyone else. Who said that humans were superior? Speciesism is sickening and brings out the worst in the human race.

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This is the worst of the worst.

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Cats tend to be active at night. I can imagine this creep with night vision goggles, hiding and waiting somewhere along their favored paths. He must have studied their behavior. What excitement.

But to stalk the stalker must be even more fun. Wish I lived in Setagaya!

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didn't the kid who cut off a couple of other kids' heads start off with cats? where is he now?

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Reminds me somehow of Kafuka on the Beach....

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Now if he were killing those enormous jungle crows instead of cats, his efforts might be appreciated...

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Unfortunately, knocking off a few moggies is just a stepping stone to humans. This clown needs to be found sooner rather than later.

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Set up cameras to catch this thrillkiller asap!

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we WILL be reading about this one committing murder soon.

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"Well, with all you cat haters out there it's no wonder we live in such a cruel world. Your lack of compassion, stupidity and ignorance"

yeah often i find its too many of the cat owners that are "stupid and ignorant and lets say arrogant"

...letting their "sweet little cats would hurt a thing" sh*t and damage, dig up and cause a health hazard in others gardens, etc. lack of cat training or respect of others by the owners.

Cats always do their worse when not in their own back yard... so its others that suffer because of "my sweet little cat wouldn't ever do anything bad".

Anyway torture is not a good solution... however a little more insight and it wouldn't be that hard for all affected parties to find out the root (or even motivation) of this and a better solution / better behavior.

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OK - we were talking about moving to setagaya just last night ....starting to change my mind now.

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I once chucked a bucket of cold water on a couple of fighting cats which were yowling and growling in the garden. I know cats hate getting wet, so I reckoned that should sort them out. It didn't have the satisfying effect that I was expecting. The Japanese lady was shocked at my behavior.

In Japan I have heard of people putting spike strips in their gardens, or scattering thumbtacks. These people must have a serious issue with strays or other people's cats. Cats can get serious infections once their pads are punctured.

Even so, this latest incident doesn't sound like your regular homeowner or housewife. I can't beleive all those cats have passed through one garden.

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Oh no! Johnny Walker is still alive!

"Kafka on the Shore" turns into reality.

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Anyway torture is not a good solution... however a little more insight and it wouldn't be that hard for all affected parties to find out the root (or even motivation) of this and a better solution / better behavior.

I really think this is less a matter of someone being aggravated by misbehaving cats and more about someone getting a sick thrill out of torturing animals. Look at any list of serial killers and you'll find that many of them started out abusing and killing animals before escalating that behavior to people. There's a HUGE difference between disciplining an animal and torturing it, just as there's a huge difference between disciplining a child and child abuse. I hope they catch this sick creep and get him (or her) off the streets PRONTO, before anymore lives (feline or otherwise) are destroyed.

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One more thing:

Shortly after 13 stray cats had been neutered and released...

Okay, they'd been neutered, I get that. But what is the point of releasing stray cats back into the streets? They may not be capable of breeding anymore, but they can still carry disease, injure household pets (and children), and cause plenty of aggravation for homeowners and renters. I hate the thought of euthanising the poor things, but sending them out into the streets seems like a pretty half-hearted solution. Are there any rescue shelters in Japan? Adoption agencies for older cats? Something?

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Poor cats. Vile people who torture animals graduate to worse crimes later.

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Putting neutered cats back into the streets does a lot to reduce the overall population of cats. If you just kill or remove the cats more stray cats will come and take their place. Cats are territorial so the neutered cats prevent other cats from moving in. Someone else wrote about this and had statistics to back it up but I'm just relaying the information.

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What a useless article. How about identifying the park in question? Is that too "newsy" for JT?

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I am absolutely against the idea of "neuter and release" stray cats. Those cats will eat whatever songbirds are left in the parks (yea, I know, it's mostly crows...). Maybe they help with rats but the cats don't discriminate between desirable animaly (songbirds) and nuisance vermin. I say catch them and ship them to NK for BBQ.

Moderator: Stay on topic please.

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Serial killers often start from tormenting animals. It may be a matter of time before this nut case starts harming people. He should be found and jailed before he escalates.

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"We reported the incidents to the police, but nothing was done about it.”

Again the J-cops prove their worth as little more than dressing for those boxes they spend so much time in. Absolutely useless!

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dont blame the stray cats, its not their fault. whether you like cats or not, torturing animals is not something normal person would do. this killer has some sort of mental problem.. i hope he will be caught soon.

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Anyone remember the unsolved murder of a family a couple of months back? The perp was inside the house when the cops arrived, but he/she escaped out the back. The younger brother managed to climb out of a front window. And the family cat was found killed and thrown in the front garden...

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The "cat hater"....one sicko....after the sicko is tired of cats...maybe try "dogs"....as mentioned....mental problem

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your right normal people are to busy shouting "don't waste any more of my time hang the witch" on other threads. Its poor behaviour as we look at it, but as the perpetrator looks maybe it is enjoyment , meat eaters gain enjoyment from consuming other animal species..what makes the death of one animal to provide food for a fat human any more acceptable than the death of another for fun...Only vegans have the right to preach about animal welfare.I bet some of the animal rights maniacs could even manage to postulate the introduction of capital punishment for animal cruelty as being reasonable.

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Bento, you are not losing the plot a bit here? Hang what bitch?

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Oh no! Johnny Walker is still alive! "Kafka on the Shore" turns into reality.

That's exactly what came to mind when I read this. That novel was messed up: cat hearts being cut out, a magical, soul-capturing flute, incest. Only Murakami could come up with it.

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This wouldn't even be an issue if the Japanese government simply insisted that all cats and dogs sold at pet stores or by breeders be spayed and neutered as a matter of ownership. The last two cats we had were nora-neko.

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perhaps people should stop feeding them in the parks then. I was walking through one setagaya park the other day and saw a man feeding about a dozen stray cats.

Almost as bad as the twit I saw feeding the crows!!!

Moderator: All readers back on topic please. The subject is the killing of these cats, not what you think about cats or crows.

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hang that guy! But before please let me spend some time with him in a room alone!

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Bento, my implication was that whoever killed the mother and brother also killed the cat. I was agreeing with the body of opinion on this site that people who end up as murderers often enjoyed killing and maiming smaller creatures when they were younger. Here was a good example of a crossover between the two worlds.

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Stray cats are no different than any other kind of vermin. They don't belong to anyone so killing them is not a crime. But, you should clean up after taking care of things.

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fds at 11:57 AM JST - 21st July didn't the kid who cut off a couple of other kids' heads start off with cats? where is he now?

He was reported to be living somewhere in Ehime. I have no sympathy for those who hurt helpless animals, so a slow chemical death to this coward. JT, which park? Give us the name.

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From the article, Veteran volunteers of the local humane society recall the series of cat killings in the Setagaya area, in which 13 cats died. “Shortly after 13 stray cats had been neutered and released, someone used chemicals and killed every single one of them.”

Ok, bad TV plot line here, so someone got to all 13 of a specific group of cats....meaning unless there had been a wholesale slaughter of cats, someone knew those cats, where they had been released, etc. Might want to check people volunteering at the local humane society at the time the time that the incidents occurred.

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There is killing and killing... If he don't like stray cats, okay, but then don't kill'em that way, punk. In my country, there's a animal care law and people like that would be punished seriously (not prison, of course, but a lot of money). You might feel, whatever you want, but there's no reason just to kill ... a real sick mind.

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nanda,"Bento, my implication was that whoever killed the mother and brother also killed the cat" why the need to imply this when all three are lying dead is a cold fact and the likely killer is obvious. no your implication was the perp of that crime might be the same person as has recently started maiming cats in the area.If it was merely as you claim then there would have been no need to go to the extra trouble of typing "unsolved murder" and highlighting the area in which it occurred.A simple statement about it would have fulfilled your desire for "good example of a crossover..." You included "unsolved" not because it is/was unsolved but because you wanted to imply a connection with this particular cat killer.

Moderator: Readers, please focus your comments on the Setagaya crimes, not unsolved murder cases.

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Nothing's worse than mistreating cats or small animals like that.

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I mean, skip the like-that.

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pity the cats can't get rid of some of the stray humans

Why does the "humane" society just "release" humans back into the city? Instead of either trying to find homes for them, or putting them to sleep?

When a human has been born and raised as a stray, it's very difficult for it to adapt to life in a family. And there is no reason at all to euthanise healthy animals just because some cats find them inconvenient.

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as you can see some humans seem to think they own the planet...

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whilst other humans seem to think "off planet"

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