Hollywood, Florida – Cats are disappearing one by one in one area of Hollywood. While the neighbors are at war over the lost cat.
Flyers that Eda Lourdes Amador hangs around her neighborhood. Tell cat owners to be careful.
“I posted all over the trees and blogs to let people realize that if their cat goes missing, go look at his house in the trap,” Amador told Local 10.
Amador said she rescued two community cats from a neighbor’s trap, but two other cats, Toby and Kiwi, are still missing.
She’s not the only one looking for the missing cat either.
“This guy must be stopped because he is evil. All the cats are in danger in the neighborhood. This is a community cat!” said Amador.
Amador claimed that her neighbor David Capozzi, a few doors away, was locking the cat in his front yard. And she has a cell phone video to prove it.
“You’re trying to catch a cat,” Amador tells Capozzi in the video.
“It’s me,” he replied. “What cat grows on my land? I will trap it and then it disappeared.”
With such shocking words on camera, Local 10’s animal advocate Jacey Birch went to Capozzi’s home to talk to him about the allegations of these cat traps.
He denied to Birch that he had not trapped the cat.
“They showed me pictures of the traps and videos where you said either get rid of it or get rid of it. Is that so?” Birch asked.
“Okay, bye,” Capozzi said before shutting the front door.
Other neighbors besides Amador also went to Birch to tell him about the missing cat.
“Yes, he lied,” said Erick Marino. “I’ll be honest, he makes my daughter cry every night. So I will never forget that.”
Marino’s cat Chloe went missing months after going missing in September. She returned home in November. and Marino blames Capozzi for Chloe’s disappearance.
“He did it to our cat. and I told him ‘My cat is in your kennel. I don’t care what you do. Let him go,” said Marino.
Chloe was able to go home, but the others weren’t, which is why Amador and her husband Richard Lothian went to war with Capozzi.
“Cats are independent creatures. Don’t you know?” Lothian heard the video telling Capozzi.
“Yes, when they freely occupy my property. they were gone so you know you’ll never see them again.”
In addition to the flyers posted Police have also been summoned to nearby areas several times. There were also requests to suspend orders and harassment from neighbors.
“Today I went to court to answer questions as a response to the restraining order. And Mr. Capozzi didn’t show up. So it was fired without prejudice,” Lothian said.
Hollywood Police and half a dozen incident reports were recorded in April and May. Code Compliance Notifications and Interactions with Broward County Animal Care clearly state that agencies well aware of this ongoing problem
And the laws of Broward County are also clear. Property owners have the right to humanely capture or trap nuisance cats. and take the animal to the Broward County adoption center.
BCAC confirms Capozzi did not take the cat to the shelter.
“These poor souls have lost everything. they lost their homes loss of food security Lost care and love from family members,” Lothian said.
Birch contacted the Hollywood animal control officer handling the case. But her call was not returned.
There is no record of Capozzi leaving the cat at the shelter. It is unclear what happened to the missing cats.
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