Elderly Hokkaido woman arrested for allegedly killing over 100 cats

SAPPORO – Police arrested an elderly Hokkaido woman on Wednesday for allegedly killing more than 100 cats in her care over the past 10-plus years.

A Muroran Police Station representative quoted Hideyo Okada, 72, of Muroran as saying: “I feared I’d be short of money to feed the cats each time they gave birth” and “I think I have killed more than 100 of them over the past 10 years or more.”

Okada was arrested on suspicion of violating the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals. The allegation that led to her arrest came in late April, when she was suspected to have drowned one of her cats. The police said they believe she put the kitten in a bucket filled with water, put a lid over it and pressed it down with a stone so the animal couldn’t get out, leaving it for two days.

Okada is also suspected of violating the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act as she is alleged to have disposed of the carcass outside her property.

Okada still has several cats, according to the police.

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