Malia Gislason looks at a picture of Freddy on her cellphone while sitting in her living room on Tuesday afternoon in Centralia.
Karen Thorson, left, and Malia Gislason talk to each other about the death of their cat, Freddy, while sitting at Gislason's living room on Tuesday afternoon in Centralia.
Malia Gislason talks about the death of a cat, Freddy, on Tuesday afternoon in Centralia.
A Centralia woman is questioning the Centralia Police Department’s policies and procedures when it comes to killing injured animals after an officer made the decision to end her injured cat’s life last week.
While Karen Thorson didn’t witness the incident, one of her neighbors did.
Both say there were other ways to better handle the situation on Friday afternoon.
Thorson’s neighbor, Nick Murray, said he saw the Centralia police officer — identified in reports as Phillip Reynolds — hit the cat in the head with a hammer multiple times after the animal became entangled in barbed wire on top of a fence. At the time, he couldn’t tell for sure if it was Thorson’s cat, which was named Freddy.
However, Officer John Panco said he was informed the responding officer hit the cat once and ended its suffering.
He said the object the officer used to hit the cat on the head with isn’t specified in the report of the incident that occurred in the 1300 block of Crescent Avenue.
“As far as I can tell there was no violation of policy. He did all he could with putting (the cat) out of his misery as quickly as possible, and a firearm just wasn’t an option on this case,” Panco said.
Panco said the department doesn’t have a specific policy for ending the suffering of injured animals, and officers make decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Using personal experience as an example, Panco said he had to kill a bull that got loose at the fair one year.
When a Taser didn’t bring the animal down, Panco said he used his firearm.
“We want to do it in the (most) humane way, and we have to do it also in the best reasonable option as far as the safety of the officer, the surrounding area, houses and other people,” he said.
Panco said according to the report, the cat’s body was disposed of after it was determined to be dead.
When it comes to disposing of the remains of animals, it also depends on the situation.
If the animal is on private property, the homeowner is usually responsible for the remains.
“If it’s … a dead animal on the side of the road, or something, we call the street department, which picks them up and ultimately it ends up in the refuse,” Panco said.
Thorson, Murray and Malia Gislason, another neighbor, all think Freddy could have survived if he had been taken to a veterinarian.
Murray said one of Freddy’s legs was in bad shape, but it could have been amputated.
Thorson’s cat didn’t wear a collar, but most of the neighborhood cats don’t, she said.
“That cat was healthy; they had to know it was somebody’s pet,” Thorson said.
They also think if Freddy did need to be put down on the spot, the officer could have used a firearm or Tased him.
But in this instance, using a firearm wasn’t the best option because of safety concerns, Panco said.
“(The officer) elected not to use his firearm because of the surroundings, and it would have actually probably destroyed the cat more because of the caliber of weapon he has,” Panco said.
Thorson said when she talked to the responding officer after the incident, he seemed upset, but not mean-spirited.
“But nevertheless it was a very, very bad call,” Thorson said.
