Key West The Newspaper - November 30, 2001

Cops Looking For Prowler With Cat-Killing Dogs

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Key West police are looking for a prowler whose dogs killed a cat on the porch of an Elizabeth Street home.

About 11 o'clock Monday night, Caroline Perdue, who lives at 603 Elizabeth Street, said she was preparing to go to bed when she heard a noise on her front porch.

"The cats were hissing and growling at something," she said. "I looked out the window to see a man and two dogs and asked what he was doing on my porch. I turned on the porch light, and saw the man trying to drag the two dogs on leashes off the porch. One of the dogs had one of my cats by the neck and was shaking it back and forth. I rushed out to try to rescue the cat, but it was too late— its neck was broken. After the dog dropped the cat, the man stood on the sidewalk and watched me cry over my cat— but he refused to identify himself. The dog continued to lunge at me and the dead cat," Perdue said.

"His only comment was to tap the dog on the back with the leash saying, "Bad boy, see what you've done now."

"Then he ran down Elizabeth Street toward Truman."

Perdue described the man as having a slender build, between 30-35 years old, light hair, wearing a light-colored t-shirt and jeans.

She said one of the dogs looked like a small white Maltese. She described the dog that killed the cat as a Jack Russell.

"I had never seen the man in our neighborhood," Perdue said. "But I have seen him at Fausto's on Fleming Street, with the dogs tied up outside. I had even spoken to him. He said that he was new to the area."

"I'm quite upset about the loss of my cat, of course," she said. "But I don't know why that man was on my porch— whether he was just a peeping Tom, or maybe trying to steal something on the porch. I'm concerned that he might come back."

Perdue said that a friend told her that she thought the man lives in the area near Elizabeth and Southard. "A friend told me Tuesday that she saw a young woman walking the Maltese."

Anyone who sees the suspect or who has information about his identity is asked to call the Key West Police Department at 294-2511.