Reward offered after Utah cat is killed, mutilated

A Springdale woman is offering a $2,500 reward for any information that leads to whoever killed and mutilated her cat.

Someone left the cat's brutalized body in front of the home of its owner, Sherry Teresa. The Zion Veterinary Clinic confirmed that the killer had to be have been human, not another animal.

"This person must be sick," Teresa said . "… My gut is that because they brought the animal back, it was to scare me.

The last time she saw her 11-year-old Khepri, he was on her lap about midnight Sunday while she read a book. Teresa went to bed, but her usual Sunday morning alarm — Khepri — didn't wake her. When she did get up, she went out on her balcony and saw the cat's body laid out about 100 to 125 feet from her home, as though he was sleeping.

"I'm a wildlife biologist by training. I've seen a lot of animal kills … but there was not one drop of blood anywhere," she said. She kept his mutilated body cold until Monday, when the veterinarian confirmed what she already suspected.

Khepri's mutilation has shattered her peace of mind. Teresa's Springdale neighborhood is sparse, with only about 20 homes in 300 acres, she said.

"Someone would have had to have known me and had to do a lot of homework … a lot of reconnaissance," she said, adding that the neighborhood is the kind of place where people notice things out of place, or people who aren't normally around.

It appeared that someone trapped Khepri, and it would have to happen close to Teresa's home, since he never travels far. She's owned Khepri since he was 4 months old, and he grew up in coyote-filled Southern California; he "knew the ropes," she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Springdale Police Department at 435-772-3434. The police have offered extra patrols of her neighborhood at night.

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @mikeypanda