Tacoma Police Rescue 60 Cats From 40-Foot Sailboat After 6-Day Operation

Q: What drove a rogue rescuer to risk an active police investigation just to snatch two cats from the abandoned vessel?

The apparent motive was urgency and frustration: the private rescuer seems to have believed the cats needed immediate help and that removing two of them was worth the legal risk. That is the picture that emerges from police statements and follow-up reporting. Authorities said the woman boarded the taped-off sailboat without permission during an active criminal investigation and took two cats to the Humane Society. Tacoma police said her actions complicated the case because the vessel was being treated as a crime scene and officers were still documenting conditions, searching for hidden cats, and investigating the owner for possible neglect or cruelty. The rescuer, identified in later coverage as private trapper Camille Sutherland, gave the clearest indication of her reasoning when she told KING 5, “They should be spending their time rescuing cats rather than giving me a citation.” That suggests she saw her actions as a direct intervention to save animals, not as interference. At the same time, there is no public evidence that she was acting out of malice or trying to obstruct the investigation. The available facts point instead to a self-appointed rescue effort driven by concern for visibly thin, frightened cats on a boat that had already drawn public attention. Police, however, stressed that even well-meant intervention can tamper with evidence, disrupt animal counts, and endanger both people and animals in a difficult marine rescue.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 13

60 cats and kittens were removed from an abandoned 40-foot sailboat off Owen Beach after Tacoma police expanded what began Aug. 6 as a rescue of more than 30 animals.
Many of the cats appeared frightened and malnourished, prompting Marine Services, Animal Control and the forensics unit to coordinate a careful extraction from the vessel.
Police still plan additional warrant-backed searches this week because cats can hide easily, even though Animal Control believes all 60 have disembarked.
More than 40 cats were taken to the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County, with the rest placed in local foster homes, as police pursue an active criminal investigation into the boat's owner.
That investigation was complicated after a private trapper boarded the vessel overnight and removed two cats, leading police to warn the public not to attempt their own rescues.