WAIKIKI (KHON2) — A disturbing string of cat poisonings in Waikiki has left more than a dozen animals dead in under two weeks.
Neighbors are worried that the person responsible is not being held accountable.
Marie-Louise Lundqvist is one of several residents shaken by the sudden deaths. She has stayed up late into the night as she tries to protect the last survivors.
“I’ve been sitting out here until five in the morning, every night, making sure that nobody comes and poisons the two that are left,” she said.
Many of the dead cats were found with bleeding from the mouth, a local rescue group took one to a veterinarian — who confirmed their worst fears.
“The veterinarians also agree that it’s most likely rat poison because of the bleeding from the mouth. And it’s very easy to get rat poison. You don’t have to do anything special. You can walk into any store, and it’s easy to hide in cat food or in tuna or anything like that,” said Lucky Paws Animal Foundation director Chris Thompson.
Residents told KHON2 that there used to be between 15 to 20 cats that would hang out in one particular area around sunset every day. The community has even worked to humanely manage the cat population.
“We’ve been working on trapping them and spaying and neutering them and releasing them back so that they don’t multiply and for somebody to do this, I mean, we actually cared about them,” she said. “They would come running to me when I was coming home from work and it’s horrible not seeing that anymore.”
The Hawaiian Humane Society is investigating and said their field services team reached out to Honolulu police. The crime would be first-degree cruelty to animals, a Class C felony in Hawaiʻi.
“I just want whoever did this to, I want them to be brought to justice because there are ways to get rid of cats. You can just place them somewhere else. You don’t poison them,” she said.
“It’s simply not a neighborhood dispute,” said Thompson. “It’s more, ‘This is a felony act of cruelty.'”
Marie-Louise said she is still trying to get the two surviving felines out of the area before it is too late.
“I saw them last night. I was trying to trap them. They won’t go into the trap. They won’t come eat food for me. They’re scared. They’ve seen all their other cat friends die. It’s such a horrific death,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Humane Society dispatch line at 808-356-2250 or submit an anonymous tip through the Animal CrimeStoppers app.
