Missing Pet Partnership
Search Report
Case #08-010
DATE: 06/01/2008
PET NAME: Maggie
SPECIES: Feline
DESCRIPTION: 6-year-old DSH gray/black tiny 8lb cat with no tail (no collar, yes on microchip)
LOCATION: 23rd Ave NW, Seattle (Ballard Area), WA
DATE & TIME LAST SEEN: Sunday 05/25/2008 2:00 a.m.
DATE & TIME OF INVESTIGATION: Sunday 06/01/2008 1:00 p.m.
BACKGROUND:
Maggie was an outdoor-access cat who stayed indoors at night. She had a skittish temperament around strangers but was known to growl and even swat at raccoons. She previously exhibited hiding behavior in the past after she had teeth pulled and after she moved into a new home (4 years ago). Her territory was primarily east in her backyard and to the yards behind (east) of her home. She sometimes went south into the neighbor's yard, but she was never seen west of her home. On the night she disappeared, she was growling to go outside. She was let outside and was not seen again.
INVESTIGATION:
On 05/23/2008 I (KAT ALBRECHT) along with MPP Volunteers AMY ADAMS, PAUL STEVENSON, and MEGAN DAVIS and cat detection dog SADIE responded to conduct a search. The GUARDIAN had obtained permission from neighbors in the area for us to enter their yards. We conducted an aggressive physical search, looking under and in every conceivable hiding place.
Maggie did not fit the profile for a cat at risk of unintentional displacement. She disappeared at 2:00 a.m. and the likelihood that she crawled into a moving van or open vehicle and was transported out of the area was highly unlikely. She also had no history of climbing on or into vehicles. The only other way that she could have been transported out of the area was if a neighbor had trapped her, but that did not seem probable either. We focused on the assumption that she was trapped, injured, or deceased within her own territory.
During our search we found a deck area built on a steep hill that was hard to access. We were not able to see the entire area under the deck, and realized this was a high probability search area. If Maggie was injured, this was an area within her territory where she could be hiding. We completed the search of her known territory without locating Maggie or any evidence of what happened to her.
Having cleared her territory, we determined that unless she was under the above-mentioned neighbor's deck, it was possible that she was displaced from her territory. We began searching properties south and west of her home. During our search, a neighbor three houses west of Maggie's home came home and noticed our very florescent presence. We had placed a giant, florescent REWARD LOST CAT poster on our parked car during our search. The neighbor advised us that the Sunday before, she woke to find a mangled, deceased cat on her back lawn. She thought it was brown and black, but wasn't certain. Her son had packaged the cat and they had called the animal shelter, but when they could not get anyone to respond, they disposed of the cat in the trash. She agreed to show us where the cat was found.
We walked up to the kill site and search dog Sadie sniffed the ground, squatted, and urinated (her decomposition alert). We located a few tufts of fur and the GUARDIAN said the fur color looked like Maggie's. We also noticed that whatever killed Maggie had attempted to bury her. The home owner said she has many raccoons in her yard. The body was mangled and not consumed, so the physical evidence does suggest that this was not the work of a coyote.
Maggie - note black pad surrounded by black fur
We continued searching the yard for more evidence and moments later, search dog Sadie located an intact paw. The paw was silver with black hairs on the top and the pad itself was black surrounded by black fur. The GUARDIAN identified the paw as belonging to Maggie. We explained that a DNA test could potentially be used to make a positive identification; however, they declined. Testing would actually have been complicated since the GUARDIAN had a second house cat, making it difficult to obtain a control sample of Maggie's DNA.
Maggie's GUARDIAN graciously agreed to donate the paw to Missing Pet Partnership for our search dog program. By using material like this, we can properly train our dogs to search for live (and deceased) feline scents.
STATUS:
Cat located deceased - case closed.
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