SUMMERVILLE – Five people have been charged and arrested in the October poisoning deaths of 13 cats that belonged to a larger colony.
On Oct. 6, a woman and her daughter volunteering to care for the a cat colony on Drop Off Drive in Summerville found one cat dead and then the rest. The colony included upwards of 50 community cats.
Police later learned two different chemicals were used in poisoning the food and water of the cats. One of the chemicals, Temik, is outlawed and had expired, contributing to slow, agonizing deaths, Detective John Difalco said at a Dec. 5 bond hearing.
Four of the five people had been arrested and granted bond on Dec. 5. A fifth person is expected to turn themselves in Dec. 6.
The cats had been managed through a volunteer trap, neuter, vaccinate and return program meant to help control the population of outdoor cats in the area.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office announced Dec. 5 they had arrested five people in connection with the killings of the community cats. They are:
-
Andrew George Dock, a 28-year-old Summerville resident, is charged with 13 counts of felony ill treatment to animals, with torture and and one count of conspiracy.
-
Charles Waylon Ulmer, a 45-year-old Dorchester resident, is charged with 13 counts of felony ill treatment to animals, with torture and and one count of conspiracy.
-
Michael Jeffrey Kemmerlin, a 30-year-old Ridgeville resident, is charged with conspiracy.
-
Sara Rose Dock, a 23-year-old Summerville resident, is charged with conspiracy.
-
Laura Mary Dock, a 61-year-old Myrtle Beach resident, is charged with conspiracy.
When police interviewed Andrew Dock, he told them the cats were a nuisance and expressed his displeasure with them in the area. Deputies later learned he recruited at least four others to assist him in killing the cats, according to a news release from sheriff’s office.
The Dock’s were granted surety bonds Dec. 5 as about a dozen volunteers with the cat colony looked on.
The Charleston Animal Society and the national Humane Society retrieved the bodies of the cats and had them transferred to the Professional Veterinary Pathology Services – Columbia and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for testing. Clemson’s Department of Pesticide Regulation was also involved in the case.
Three opossums were also found poisoned. Not all of the cats in the colony were killed. All other cats were trapped and relocated out of the area afterward by animal groups in Berkeley, Charleston and Colleton counties, according to social media posts after the deaths.
Joe Elmore, president of the Charleston Animal Society, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Charleston Animal Society has been leading a statewide push to see South Carolina become a no-kill state in which cats and dogs are not killed at shelters due to a lack of space or adoptability. Elmore previously told The Post and Courier the best strategy to manage outdoor cat populations is through sustained, en masse trap, neuter, vaccinate and return programs where outdoor cats that can’t be adopted are prevented from breeding.
The colony on Drop Off Drive had already been neutered, chipped and cared for.
It’s a strategy that’s become broadly accepted as best practice among in recent years by shelters, animal welfare groups and animal control officials, he previously said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
