Ponoka RCMP are asking for help from the general public in three separate events over the weekend related to suspicious activity in town.
On March 29, at approximately 10:20 a.m. the manager of the Fields store contacted the RCMP after a customer pointed out a dead cat hanging from a light post on 51st St.
Const. James Lai attended the scene and described the cat as a tabby cat with no collar or electronic tags.
“My personal thought is that it is upsetting being a pet owner myself, the job we have we do see a lot of things,” said Lai. “Animals being as innocent as they are, it was pretty troubling seeing what I saw, even the reaction of the people walking by they were pretty disgusted. There were at least three or four people walking by who said how disturbing it was.”
Lai said that he had to use a ladder to untangle the wiring around the cat’s neck that had been secured to the light post approximately 15 feet in the air. The cat appeared to have been hung from the light post for a long period of time and it is believed that the incident occurred between 1 and 8 a.m.
Thus far there have been few tips in regards to the incident but police are requesting anyone with information to come forward.
Lai also said that between Friday and Saturday morning RCMP members chased two males, one carrying a ladder near Fort Ostell museum. The police service dog was called in to try and track the suspects. Currently this is being treated as an unrelated incident but it might be related and police are asking for any public information.
There was a third incident over the weekend at the construction site on Chipman Ave. A witness saw one youth serving as a lookout and others inside the building while the inside was vandalized.
The Ponoka RCMP are looking for the public’s assistance on these three incidents and Lai said that any help would be greatly appreciated. You can contact Lai at the Ponoka RCMP detachment at 403-783-4472.