The New York Police Department said it is investigating two incidents involving cats being abandoned inside sealed buckets in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.
The suspect is described as an Asian male who was wearing jeans, a sweater, and dark-colored shoes.
A similar incident occurred on Nov. 17, when a worker found a plastic bucket near the trash close to the shelter’s door. A cat was seen peeking out of a hole in the bucket before it was brought inside.
In the most recent incident, the shelter said, “We found another bucket left next to the public trash can with a cat inside, as if left for garbage. Luckily one of our staff members recognized the bucket, brought it inside and pried it open.”
“This poor kitty is in bad shape and, needless to say, is terrified. We have contacted the police, but we’re asking that everyone in the vicinity of our shelter in Soho PLEASE keep your eyes out for any suspicious buckets or containers like the ones in these photos,” the group said.
Putting the cats in sealed buckets could have killed the animals if nobody found them.
“The buckets snap shut tight,” a shelter worker told HuffPost. “You can’t just pop [them] open. We had to use pliers. There is no way a cat could escape.”
“I think that’s so sad,” resident Darya Safavi told the station. “If he didn’t want them, he could’ve put them in a shelter.”
“I think that’s mean,” resident Brian Jamont said. “Some people just can’t take care of cats, unfortunately.”
The shelter said it’s not clear if the same man is behind both incidents, according to the CBS report.
“We just want this individual to be arrested for what is animal cruelty and abandonment,” shelter worker Mika Ito said. “Shelters are here to accommodate people who can’t keep their pets.”
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).