2 cats found inside sealed buckets, new surveillance of suspect

WABC logo
Thursday, December 20, 2018
2 cats found inside buckets, new surveillance of suspect near Little Italy
Naveen Dhaliwal reports on the cats trapped in buckets in Little Italy.

LITTLE ITALY, New York -- New video shows the man police say sealed two cats inside of buckets and abandoned them outside an animal shelter.

The cat in the most recent incident survived and is now looking for a good home, but authorities say it is not the first time that a cat was dumped inside a bucket.

Police say the man left the sealed bucket that contained the cat near a garbage can in front of Animal Haven on Thursday.

The man then fled on foot.

New video shows man police say sealed cats inside a bucket, abandoned them in Chinatown.

A worker leaving for the night saw the bucket and heard a hiss. The bucket's lid had a hole in it, and officials said the cat was malnourished.

A similar incident happened a month ago, when another worker found a plastic bucket near the trash outside the shelter's back door.

Peeking out of the hole on top was a cat, which was brought inside, checked out and named Sage.

The suspect is described as an Asian male who was last seen wearing a sweater, jeans and dark-colored shoes.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).