Horrible cat murders have shocked the Japanese city of Saitama on the outskirts of Tokyo, the police ask not to let children go out into the streets alone.
City schools are asking teachers to escort children home, advising them to go only in large groups, and police have stepped up patrolling the streets. It all started after a series of brutal cat killings over the past month.
First, a resident of the city found the head and paws of a spotted cat while walking in the Arakawa River area. The rest of the animal’s body was found at an elementary school a few days later. For 10 days, at the end of February, the remains of two more mutilated animals were found – in a field and on the side of a small road.
According to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the police have increased their patrols, and children are asked not to let them go out alone. The people of Saitama still remember the atrocities of the cat killer, now serving a prison sentence for his actions, who posted gruesome footage online.
However, many remember another, even more terrible case – they faced the “ghost” of child murders in the city of Kobe in the 1990s. Then it all started, too, with the brutal murders of cats, which were committed by a 14-year-old teenager. However, “having gotten used to it,” he killed two children, aged 10 and 11, and wounded three more.
Saitama police spokesman said CNNithat they are investigating horrific cat murders and discovering if they are connected. Note that in Japan, killing or injuring animals is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of approximately $36,600.
After a series of cat murders, experts have warned that in some minds, animal cruelty could serve as a gateway to even more heinous crimes. Surugadai University psychology professor Kenji Omata said:
“Usually criminal acts and cruelty are hidden, but their display can be a form of self-expression.”
He referred to the case of a previous cat killer in Saitama Prefecture and noted that “in the case of serial killing of children in Kobe city, there was also animal cruelty”:
“I am very concerned about how long these incidents will continue and whether people will get hurt.”
Kim J. McCoy, a lawyer who founded the Hong Kong Animal Rights Organization, warned that some cases of animal cruelty have “turned into more serious crimes against humans:
There is empirical evidence supporting a direct link between those who commit cruelty to animals and those who commit other, more violent crimes against humans.
The lawyer added that even when violence is limited to animals, action is still needed: “Animals are vulnerable. They deserve and need proper protection.”
The killer of children from Kobe. Japan’s youngest maniac:
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