Over 45 cats have died or gone missing in Cali after a series of suspicious fires at a vehicular bridge near Señor Jesús de la Divina Misericordia church. Rescuers claim the blazes were set intentionally to wipe out the feline colony living there. Senator Andrea Padilla is demanding answers from local authorities.
At carrera 28 #72-04 in eastern Cali, a colony of about 75 cats dwindled to just over 20 following repeated fires, according to rescuer ‘Gato Escobar’. He described destroyed structures, ashes, and burned animal bodies at the site, which for years housed the felines near Señor Jesús de la Divina Misericordia church.
“Here there were more than 75 kittens, of those 75 only 20 kittens remain, poorly counted, because people set them on fire to exterminate them,” stated ‘El Gato’ Escobar. Local animal protectors blame residents, angered by rising abandonment in the area, who intentionally burned shelters built for the cats.
Senator Andrea Padilla filed a right of petition to Mayor Alejandro Eder and the Animal Protection Administrative Unit, requesting traceability of prior complaints, sterilization plans, and measures to prevent further abandonments. Though officials visited the site on March 27, questions linger about the exact number affected and the whereabouts of the missing.
Animal activist groups also report similar incidents in El Pondaje neighborhood, where fires are being set in green areas to eradicate cat colonies.
