Arrest made in case of dead feral cats in Avon
A suspect has been indicted by the Dare County Grand Jury and arrested by deputies from the Dare County Sheriff’s office in the case of cats that were found dead last December in a dumpster in Avon.
Jordan Wallace Boykin, 26, of Sailfish Drive in Manteo was indicted by the Grand Jury on animal cruelty charges on Feb. 29 and was arrested by the Dare County Sheriff’s Office on March 5 and charged with four counts of felony animal cruelty, as well as failure to appear for a misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon charge.
Three of the cats were found dead in a dumpster on Dec. 30 by the manager of a laundry facility owned by a property management firm in Avon.
Sgt. Doug Oberbeck, who was handling the case, said the injuries suffered by the cats were consistent with having been shot, perhaps with a pellet gun. The cats were sent off for necropsies, which Oberbeck said confirmed they had been shot.
Debbie Martin of Avon, president and program manager of Friends of Felines of Cape Hatteras Island, said at the time that the dead cats belonged to a well-established colony of 15 feral cats that was being maintained, with permission, on the property.
Immediately after the incident, she said several cats from the colony were missing. Some of the cats later returned, including one who was injured and later died of an apparent gunshot wound.
Boykin was taken to the Dare County Detention Center and was released on a $30,000 secured bond.
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the case by the North Carolina Wildlife Division and the Dare County SPCA.
