Cat killer perplexes neighbors.

Byline: Ian Demsky

Nov. 1--Chi and Hennessy were butchered. Cut clean in half. And it wasn't the work of animals.

"Anyone who's sliced a turkey can see it wasn't a bite mark," said Chi's owner, Skip Anderson, who lives near Point Defiance Park. He had the 18-pound cat for seven years before it was killed Oct. 30, 2005.

Then, earlier this month, on Oct. 17, a neighbor's cat, was found slain in much the same manner, just a few hundred feet from where Chi's body was discovered. Anderson started to worry a killer might be stalking the area. No blood was found at the scene of either body, he said Wednesday.

Veterinarian Craig Smith, who founded the Tacoma Cat Hospital in 1993, examined both animals.

At first glance, he said, it looked like they'd been attacked by a dog or a coyote, but a closer examination of the skin edges showed the tell-tale signs of a blade.

"What we're looking for is little 'v' cuts along the edge," Smith said. If it they had been torn apart "you're not going to find a clean edge, you're going to find a shredded edge."