US troops linked to attacks on cats in Hawaii
- Soldiers reportedly used blow dart guns bought in Indonesia to shoot the felines. Two were also found disembowelled near a fast-food restaurant
- It follows reports of US military personnel killing feral cats in South Korea, where one was reportedly locked in a cage and shot with an air gun
Cats have been found shot with blow darts and mutilated near a US Army barracks in Hawaii, according to an animal-welfare organisation.
KAT Charities founder Dr Karen Tyson told Honolulu television station KHON her organisation was worried troops stationed at the Schofield Army Barracks in Hawaii could be linked to the animal abuse.
“It is our understanding that a group of soldiers … purchased blow dart guns while on a recent training mission to Indonesia and brought them home to Hawaii,” she said.
Aloha Affordable Veterinary Services confirmed to KHON they had recently treated a cat named Katness for a dart wound to her neck. Tyson said she has seen other felines with similar wounds and claimed a pair of cats were found disembowelled near a fast-food restaurant near the army base. She said it was apparent those animals had been “purposefully mutilated” and not injured in an accident.
A garrison spokesman told The New York Daily News on Thursday that the army had heard of cats being abused and that an investigation was under way.
“This type of behaviour is not tolerated on the installation and is not in keeping with our army values,” the statement said.