Toronto neighbourhood horrified after teen arrested for torturing local animals

Toronto has seen an astounding wave of teens committing all sorts of unfathomable crimes in the city lately, but one particularly heinous spree involving harming animals has residents absolutely appalled and disgusted.

Pet owners in the Riverdale neighbourhood began warning one another this week about a young community member who had allegedly been caught torturing a raccoon, and was thought to be responsible for the deaths of multiple others in the area.

One person posting about the individual on the Toronto subreddit mentioned that some of their neighbours’ cats had also suspiciously gone missing, with one eventually “found dead under the shed in the kid’s backyard.”

“Cops are combing the area right now but this kid has been terrorizing the area for at least one week,” they continued in their entreaty for others to keep their pets indoors.

Since the viral post on Wednesday and multiple others since, the Toronto Police Service has confirmed to multiple news outlets that a 16-year-old boy was in fact taken in to custody and charged for unnecessary pain/suffering or injury to an animal in relation to one or more of the incidents mentioned.

Flyers are appearing to caution residents in the Riverdale neighbourhood of the unsettling crimes. Photo from the Toronto subreddit.

In response to the allegations and the news of the teen’s arrest, many have flooded to socials to share personal stories that they believe might be connected, from spotting skinned animals in the trash to seeing officers investigating “another case of a mutilated animal” nearby.

Many also commented to report their own pets missing, sharing posters and information to spread the word. PSAs about the investigation in general also seem to be appearing around the neighbourhood.

Numerous people have chimed in to share that their own pets are missing in the area. From the Toronto subreddit.

“I hope that kid is on a watch list given how frequent animal torture escalates to violent crime on humans,” one person wrote, to which another noted, “Isn’t this behaviour a telltale classic precursor to becoming a serial killer?”

Still, others called the whole ordeal “sickening,” worrying for all of the still-unaccounted-for pets. 

blogTO has reached out to TPS seeking additional information about the crimes.