Find and arrest the cat killer before it’s too late

We’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about the serial cat killer in Thurston County the past few weeks. I think it’s for good cause.

RELATED: 9th cat found killed in Thurston County

The more I look into it, the more I’m convinced we have the opportunity to catch a future human killer before it reaches that point. Not to minimize the lives of these cats, but the research on serial animal cruelty and other crimes is alarming.

From an article in the Atlantic: “In a 1986 study in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry found that almost half of rapists and a third of child molesters reported committing animal abuse during childhood or adolescence. In 2001, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice determined that nearly two-thirds of inmates who commit crimes of aggression might also abuse animals.”

Add to that a 2007 study entitled, “Battered Pets and Domestic Violence,” found that a staggering 71 percent of abusers had also abused or threatened to abuse animals.

In the Thurston County case, not only do we have the serial killing of animals, we also have the brazen display of the dead animals. This individual is proud of what they have done. They want everyone to see their dark handiwork.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, in an article for Psychology Today, describes three traits found in those that inflict acts of animal cruelty and torture. There are “three specific characteristics of personality – Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy (the so-called ‘Dark Triad’)” found in people that end up crossing over from animals to human harm.

One simply cannot just turn off this brand of narcissism and lack of empathy. There is someone in the Olympia area that knows this depraved soul. According to the experts, he most likely started as a child by pulling cat tails or aggressively pestering dogs or by being too rough, in general, with animals.

The more we talk about it, the more I hope that all of the tumblers will fall into place and someone in the Ron and Don Nation will have an “ah-ha” moment.

Left unchecked, this story does not end well. If you find yourself out late at night in the Olympia area, keep your eyes peeled. You could literally be saving a life, possibly more.

Help law enforcement find this serial killer. There is more at stake than just animals.