SANDY — Another mutilated cat was found Tuesday in Salt Lake County, marking the 10th dead-cat incident since May 2002.

But this time the cat was discovered not in the Avenues but near the third hole of the Willow Creek Country Club at 8300 South and 2700 East.

The front half of a gray tabby cat was discovered near a tree on the far east side of the golf course away from any main roads. The cat's organs were missing and there appeared to be some puncture marks near the neck, said Salt Lake County Animal Services spokeswoman Temma Martin.

There was no visible identification on the cat, although animal control officers were going to look for an ID chip in the feline later.

Martin said there's always the possibility the mutilation was the result of an animal attack, but "it looks too much like the others."

Until Tuesday, nine cats and one dog were found mutilated in Salt Lake's Avenues area since May 14, 2002. In all of those cases, either the front half or the back half of the animals were found, Martin said. Sometimes both ends of the cat were discovered but the animal had a large hole in its side and all of its organs missing.

The last dead-cat incident was June 20 near Eighth Street and H Avenue. There was some question whether that incident was the result of an animal attack. But Martin said test results showed no saliva on the cat's body.

Investigators aren't sure if one person or group is responsible for the cat mutilations. She said it's possible some of the incidents may be copycats from people who saw an earlier killing on the news. But the attacks have been very similar, and Martin doesn't believe enough details have been released for someone to precisely copy the killings just by watching TV or reading the newspaper.

Investigators have also been comparing notes with authorities in Denver, where dozens of mutilated cats have been found in the past year. The Denver Post recently reported there have been seven dead cats found in the metro Denver area since spring and 24 in the past year. CNN reported Tuesday that at least 40 mutilated cats have been found in the Denver area since the cat killings were discovered.

"The timing and the cases are similar," Martin said of the Colorado and Utah cases.

A task force has been created in Denver to investigate the cat killings, which have been primarily in the Denver and Aurora areas.

There have been a number of similarities between the Denver and Salt Lake cases, according to Martin. Except for the Willow Creek incident, the majority of mutilated cats have been left next to a road or elsewhere in plain sight. In almost all of the cases the animals were killed in another location before being discarded.

The task force is looking into whether there is a group or a message being put on the Internet about how to kill the cats, Martin said.

Forensic scientist Dr. Helen Morrison told CNN Tuesday that one theory could be that peer pressure among kids may be to blame as opposed to an occult ritual. However, "the bizarre placement of internal organs or the fact they are removed would make me wonder what is the motivation factor," she said.

Until the people responsible are caught, Morrison said, "we really are only speculating" as to who is responsible and why.

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