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MURFREESBORO – Cats are turning up dead here, and no one is 100 percent sure of the cause.

Two residents addressed the issue as part of the public comments period during the Aug. 23 regularly scheduled meeting of the Murfreesboro Town Council.

“Something is going on, but don’t know what it is,” stated Debbie Cobb who resides on High Street. “I love cats. I don’t want anything happening to mine and I hate to see somebody else’s cat die.

“If something is causing these animals to die, it makes me concerned about the children living in that area. Something needs to be done,” Cobb added.

“When animals go missing, dogs and cats, it terrorizes a neighborhood,” stated Libby Whitaker, a resident of Spring Avenue. “I’ve found [animal] bones in my back yard where the pipes are. The Health Department is coming to see about that.”

Later in the meeting, Councilman Craig Dennis said he received a recent phone call from a local resident that operates an Airbnb (an online marketplace that connects people who want to rent their homes to people who are looking for temporary accommodations).

“She (the homeowner) had someone staying there who has a dog and was scared to let the dog out of the house because of the things going on [with missing and dead animals] in that neighborhood,” Dennis said. “I can relate to that because I have found dead animals in my yard and the next-door neighbor’s yard as well. It’s a shame when you’re scared to let your animals out in your yard.”

Dennis added there were other issues occurring in his neighborhood.

“People can’t leave their house without worrying about someone going to tear your yard up, cutting your trees down, and tearing up your grass. It has gotten to the point of being ridiculous. Something has to change. Something needs to be done about that.”

Outside after the meeting, Whitaker told the R-C News-Herald that the recent rash of dead cats has taken place over the last three weeks.

“What we know as of right now, there are 14 dead cats, there may be more,” Whitaker said, adding they have all been found in the area of High Street and Spring Avenue.

Whitaker said she believes someone is purposely putting poison out, in different forms and fashions, to kill cats. She alleges that water buckets containing antifreeze are among the measures deployed to kill the cats.

“Someone has bagged up the water from those buckets and called the health department to come out and test it,” Whitaker said.

Murfreesboro Police Chief David Griffiths told the News-Herald that no one has contacted his department about dead cats.

“Hertford County Animal Control may have been contacted,” Griffiths said.

On Tuesday of this week, Hertford County Sheriff Dexter Hayes said he is not aware of anyone in Murfreesboro filing a formal complaint with his Animal Control officers in regards to animal deaths in that town.