HAWAII KAI, Hawaii (KHON2) — Concerns are rising in east Oahu after several feral cats were shot at the Hawaii Kai park and ride.
A local rescue CEO said seven felines were targeted since February, six have died and the Hawaiian Humane Society is now pushing for cameras in the area.
Leilani Ng runs a local trap and neuter organization in Kalihi and said bodies of five feral cats with suspicious wounds were found around the Hawaii Kai park and ride since Feb. 2. A sixth injured cat was taken into the Hawaiian Humane Society where it had to be euthanized in mid-February.
“The pathology report on the X-ray showed metal, shrapnel and and stuff throughout her body,” Ng said. “It’s hard to say. It could be a BB, it could be a pellet, it could be a bullet.”
Ng then caught a seventh cat that had been targeted on Feb. 27 — a 4-year-old male named Panda which had apparently been shot through the head.
“He had a projectile that entered through his eye and out of his lower left jaw,” Ng said on Panda’s injuries.
Panda is expected to make a full recovery aside from losing his left eye.
“It’s a heinous crime. It’s, I couldn’t imagine someone shooting an animal. We are the voice for the animals. And to do that, that person needs to be tried and put away,” said HHS Field Services & Response lead investigator C. Fragozo.
Local rescue organizations and HHS said the recent shootings speak to the need for surveillance cameras at the park and ride and said they are pushing to get them installed soon. They ask that the public help out by being their eyes and ears in the meantime.
“We have no identity. We have no leads on a suspect. That’s why we’re going to try to push to get cameras out here so we can get those leads, get law enforcement involved and then capture the suspect,” Fragozo said.
“Like park and rides, state lookouts, things like that. Anywhere that people knowingly congregate because then it deters other things besides animal cruelty and things being shot,” Ng said.
City officials said there are no current plans to install cameras at the park and ride, Honolulu police opened a second degree animal cruelty investigation and asked any witnesses to call 911.
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“Because you never know. The next animal that could be dead could be yours,” Ng said.

