Yonkers police have arrested a man suspected of hanging dozens of plastic bags containing dead cats on tree branches near his home. The grisly discovery was made last April, but investigators were unable to nail down the perpetrator until yesterday, when they arrested one Rene Carcamo, 60. Carcamo resides on a street near where the dead cats were found.
According to the Journal News, Carcamo was questioned multiple times over the course of the months-long investigation, and at one point the director of the SPCA's enforcement unit spotted two cats in his apartment that were visibly sick. Carcamo was ordered to take them to a vet, and when he didn't, the SPCA seized the animals.
"The SPCA remains saddened by the magnitude and severity of this crime against such innocent animals," said Executive Director Shannon Laukhuf in a statement. "Our focus since the incident has been to help feral and stray cats living in that location by examining them for disease and illness... and seeking a safer place for them to live."
Necropsies determined that at least 3 of the bagged cats had been killed by blunt force trauma to the head. Carcamo is charged with violating Yonkers environmental conservation laws for his highly disturbing method of disposing the cats, plus two counts of animal abuse for his alleged treatment of the sick kittens. His motive remains opaque.
