is investigating after a cat head that had been severed from its body was found in the middle of the intersection between Moose Hill and Rolling Hills roads on Saturday night.
This was the second time this year that a cat head had been found in the same location, animal control officials said.
Assistant Animal Control Officer Cori Wlasuk said that on Saturday night, someone sliced the gray and white tabby cat’s head off of its body with a blade and placed it in the middle of the street so that the eyes would look at passersby. The reason animal control officials believe a person, rather than an another animal, is responsible for this act is because the neck was severed clean, Wlasuk said.
“The eyes were looking up at you, it was disgusting,” she said.
The fact that this is the second such incident this year gives animal control officials a little more confidence in saying that this is the work of a person, not another animal, said Sandy Merry, Oxford's head animal control officer.
She said the Dembek family at 180 Moose Hill Road found the first head seven or eight months ago and informed her office. At the time, the animal control office was not sure what to make of the incident.
Fourteen-year-old Abbie Dembek spoke to the media Monday, with her father’s permission, about what she witnessed eight months ago. She said her mom was driving her to a party when she noticed the cat head in the middle of the road. Her mother turned the car around and called animal control, Abbie Dembek said.
“The woman from animal control said she could tell the cat was strangled by the color of its tongue and that its head was cut off,” she said.
Her father, Larry Dembek, said he’s lived in Oxford since 1963 and built his current house on Moose Hill Road in 2004. He said his neighborhood is quiet and safe.
“I don’t know what the story is or why anybody would do that,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
The woman who found the cat on Saturday could not immediately be reached for comment. She is a veterinarian technician who lives at 178 Moose Hill Road, according to animal control officials.
Oxford Resident Trooper Sgt. Dan Semosky said the resident trooper's office is looking into the complaint.
“We have to look at the evidence and investigate before we comment further,” he said.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Oxford Animal Control Shelter at 203-881-3653.
