A Baker City animal welfare organization is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in recent killings of cats in the area.

“This is more than just an act of cruelty toward animals — it’s a crime that deeply affects our sense of safety and compassion as a community,” said Lisa Millsap, a board member and spokesperson for Best Friends of Baker Inc. “We are committed to seeing justice served and protecting the lives of animals in our city.”

In early April, a neighbor found Lisa Lanning’s gray-and-white tabby, Harper Lee, lying dead in Lanning’s front yard at Second and Madison streets.

The 8-month-old cat, a gift from a friend to Lanning last September, was previously healthy and had been spayed and vaccinated.

Then, a few weeks later, the neighbor who found Lanning’s cat, found his family’s pet cat, Rachel, dead in the his front yard about four hours after the black cat had gone outside.

Rachel had a deep cut that extended from her anus to her breast, said Hope Collard, the cat’s owner.

“It was not a tear, or something that was made by another animal,” Hope Collard said.

She said it appeared to her that someone had placed Rachel in the yard, as the cat was on the house side of a fence.

Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby said in early May that the two cat deaths, happening in adjacent homes, “is a little concerning.”

Duby said police didn’t have any suspects.

Less than a week after Rachel was killed, Lanning heard from a friend that someone who lives on 19th Street had their pet cat walk inside and die on a sofa.

The deaths prompted Best Friends of Baker, which helps rescue cats and dogs, to offer the reward. The nonprofit urges anyone with relevant information to get in touch with Baker City Police.

Best Friends of Baker Inc urges anyone with relevant information to call Officer Joshua Horlocker at the Baker City Police at 541-523-3644.