10- to 15-year-old suspects sought after cat set on fire, 9 malnourished animals rescued, Pct 1 says

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By Luke Jones

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    HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Authorities are looking for two juveniles they say set a 6-week-old kitten on fire Thursday morning.

The cruel crime was captured on multiple surveillance cameras around 1 a.m. on the 12600 block of Drifting Woods Drive in northeast Harris County.

You can see the kitten running down the street engulfed in flames as a dog that a witness told Eyewitness News belongs to one of the suspects and pursues it.

The suspects can be heard cackling as the kitten burns.

“I heard laughing. I thought they were having a party outside or something,” Arleth Garcia said.

But when Garcia and her friend went outside, they quickly realized what they were dealing with.

“The video was terrible. I mean, that cat burned for a while and suffered greatly,” Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen said.

Garcia said her friend dumped water on the flames and tried patting them down with clumps of grass when they failed to put the fire out.

Deputies and the SPCA took the kitten to a vet, where it later had to be euthanized.

“I’ve seen people behead animals. I’ve seen a lot of different things. I have not seen a lot of animals set on fire,” Rosen said.

Garcia said she and her friend spoke to one of the suspects after the fact but that she denied any involvement.

“She was just like, ‘It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. It was the other guy,’ and this and that, and then she just went inside with the dog while the cat was still on fire,” Garcia said.

Rosen said his office has identified two suspects, believed to be between the ages of 10 and 15, but hasn’t spoken with them yet.

Acting on a tip, deputies obtained a search warrant to search a home the suspects were seen entering. They removed two dogs, seven puppies, and one cat.

“No shelter. No water. No food,” Rosen said.

A hearing for custody of the seized animals will be held next week.

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