We can't show what Cheri Bernard's cat, Zoe, looks like. Sunday, Zoe died from mutilation.

"She had been cut, it was not from another animal. She had been cut open and her organs removed," says Lisa Mauro, DVM.

Cheri showed us where Zoe's body was found. There are still blood stains on the rocks next to her driveway.

"Knowing she was down there and how she died, it's very hard," she says.   "It's horrible to imagine someone doing that to someone you love. She was a part of our family."

People who live in the neighborhood say they've heard of at least 3 other incidents in the past year of a cat being mutilated and killed.

"Unfortunately, the cat we found yesterday was the worst," says neighbor Martha Dougherty.

Clark County Animal Control could not speak to us, because they are still investigating the case.

But they did tell us animal cruelty is a misdemeanor offense in the county. Zoe's veterinarian isn't happy about that.

"The laws need to be much stronger, they need to be taken much more seriously," says Mauro. "These are animals that belong to people, they are their children."

"She wasn't a person, but she had her own identity," says Bernard's.  "She did not deserve to die like that. And I hope they catch this person. Because heaven forbid, they grow into more severe things."

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