Miami residents fearing loose pit bulls following deaths, disappearances of several neighborhood cats

MIAMI – Pet owners in a Miami-Dade County neighborhood say they have been dealing with dangerous dogs the past several weeks.

They are estimating between 15 and 20 cats, if not more, have been killed or gone missing.

People who live in Miami’s Buena Vista neighborhood near Northeast 47th Street say when they see two particular pit bulls, not far behind are lifeless bodies of their beloved cats.

“They are just roaming around basically hunting neighborhood cats,” said resident Nuno Felisperto. “These dogs are not hunting for food, they are hunting the cats down and eating the bodies.”

Ellen Rusconi told Local 10 News her cat Handsome was one of the victims of the dogs. She said he was killed Tuesday morning.

“It’s such a horrible death, I can’t really think about it,” she said. “Our other two cats witnessed it. They are completely scared.”

Numerous houses with security cameras have captured the dogs roaming the streets in the early hours of the morning.

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“At least one of our cats we’ve found the body, and we’ve had two more cats go missing (that) we haven’t been able to find,” said Felisperto.

The residents who are dealing with what appears to be dangerous dogs say when they call animal services, they say they can’t help and they’ve been told to dial 911.

“The non-emergency police line said there was basically nothing they could do,” said resident Nicole Dorsey. “Now we have to call 911 and that’s not fair to police force either, they don’t have time for that sort of thing.”

These people are in fear if something isn’t done soon, the dogs will cause harm to humans.

Local 10 News reached out to animal services and they said they are looking into the situation.