Man charged in disappearance of cat that was CT town’s ‘local icon’

A North Stonington man faces animal cruelty charges in the disappearance of a cat said to be a local icon in Deep River that turned up dead in March, according to the arrest warrant affidavit in the case.

Joshua McDonough, 27, was arrested on May 18 and charged with cruelty to animals and sixth-degree larceny.

McDonough said he “solved a very important problem in a bad way” after becoming fixated on the cat named Tiger that would regularly wander into the Deep River Walgreens and other local businesses, the affidavit said.

The cat was found dead by a Connecticut Department of Transportation worker on the side of Interstate 95 in Old Saybrook on March 20 a day after the animal’s owner took to Facebook to ask for help finding the missing 14-year-old black and white Tabby cat. The DOT worker notified a nearby property owner of what he had found before burying the animal, later telling police it was “the right thing to do,” the affidavit said.

“The cat is determined to have been well known and adored by the community of Deep River. The loss of Tiger is akin to the loss of a local icon,” state police wrote in the affidavit for McDonough’s arrest.

According to the affidavit, McDonough was training to become a manager at the Deep River Walgreens in March when the existing manager said he became fixated on Tiger who would regularly visit the store and was well-liked by community members. The manager told McDonough to leave the animal alone after he complained that having the cat in the store was unsanitary, the affidavit said.

The Walgreens manager said another employee made her aware that, during one of the Facebook posts made by Tiger’s owner about the cat being missing, McDonough admitted to his involvement in the animal’s disappearance, according to the affidavit. When confronted by the manager, McDonough initially denied any involvement before admitting he took the cat and “drove it down the road,” the affidavit said. The manager told police McDonough then resigned from his position.

Surveillance footage from outside the Deep River Walgreens showed a man chasing a cat on March 18 in the parking lot before grabbing the animal and leaving the area in a black SUV, the affidavit said. About half an hour later, the SUV is seen returning to the parking lot.

State police spoke to McDonough in late March, when he denied harming the cat but conceded that he did “relocate” the animal.

“He regarded the presence of a cat in the store as unsanitary and it was an ongoing issue,” state police wrote in the affidavit, adding that McDonough admitted he was told multiple times to leave the animal alone. “Joshua noticed that the problem wasn’t going to be solved unless he acted. He says the way his mind works, he gets fixated on some problems and thinks about them constantly.”

“Joshua was adamant that he did not harm the cat,” state police wrote of McDonough’s interview with an investigator.

McDonough told state police he went back to the area where he dropped the cat off a few days later and could not find it, the affidavit said. He said he also contacted the animal’s owner and told him where he dropped Tiger off.

When state police spoke to the cat’s owner, he confirmed that he had received a phone call from a man who said he had moved Tiger, though the owner said the caller did not identify himself, the affidavit said. The caller told Tiger’s owner he had driven about 10 miles south of the Deep River Walgreens before dropping the cat off, the affidavit said.

“Tiger is an outdoor cat and likes to visit local businesses throughout the day,” the owner told state police, adding that the animal was let outside on March 18 and never returned home for dinner.

The owner of Tiger was notified of the cat’s death by the Old Saybrook resident who spoke to the DOT worker after the man found the animal’s body on the side of I-95. The woman had seen a poster for the missing cat before contacting the owner. The cat was confirmed to be the dead animal found on the side of the road using a photo the DOT worker had taken before burying Tiger.

McDonough is free on a $20,000 bond and is set to appear in Middletown Superior Court on Aug. 8.