KTKA

Mark McCanon is an animal lover with many pets. His world came tumbling down when he found one of his cats mutilated in his back yard.

"Hasn't been very good for me. Something we've been kind of dreading might happen. I went to get the paper this morning and he wasn't waiting at the front door," he said.

McCanon says his cat's body was split open with a knife,- it's legs and tail chopped off.

The cat lover says he brought Sugar home 13 years ago for his daughter, about the same time his daughter planted a tree in their backyard.

"Thought that since this was her cat, that this would be a good place to bury him," McCannon said.

And he's not alone.

Neighbors say several cats in the neighborhood have been reported missing. Three of them have been found dead, mutilated.

Midge Grinstead of the Lawrence Humane Society says the cat killer is possibly someone with a vendetta.

"What you want to do is find out who it is, put your video cameras out, do what it takes to catch the person and let's get them off the street. That's the key," Grinstead said.

McCanon says while some neighbors have taken issue with the five beehives he keeps in his backyard, he doesn't know of anyone that has issues with cats in the neighborhood.

Now,he just wants the people of Lawrence to be on the lookout.

"I just hope it doesn't happen to somebody else," he said.

While McCanon hangs on to the memories of his beloved pet, he can't help but question why someone killed Sugar.

If you have any information, police ask you to call Lawrence Crimestoppers at 843-TIPS.

Animal cruelty is a felony.