OLYMPIA, WA - At least eight cats have been found mutilated across Washington over the past few months. Animal control officials in Thurston County, where a majority of the cats have been found, believe there's a "pet serial killer" on the loose.

The pet serial killer has left the bodies of the animals in public places. In July, a cat was found cut in half at Port Angeles playground. Seven more mutilated cats have been found in Tumwater, Lacey, and Olympia since February, according to Thurston County's Joint Animal Services. In one of the most recent killings, a 20-year-old deaf tabby cat, Harley, was found cut open and on display on a lawn in Olympia. The cat was partially feral, according to Q13, but a woman had been taking care of him. Harley was found Sunday and was the second mutilated cat found in 48 hours.

In some of the mutilations, the spine has been removed, according to Pasado's Safe Haven. The Monroe-based animal cruelty nonprofit is offering a $1,500 reward for information about the killings. Washington's Most Wanted is will match that reward for a total of $3,000 for information leading to the capture of the killer. And catching the serial cat mutilator should be a priority for humans. Violent criminals often start out torturing or killing animals before moving on to kill humans.

"When counselors at several federal penitentiaries evaluated inmates for levels of aggression, 70 percent of the most violent prisoners had serious and repeated animal abuse in their childhood histories, as compared to 6 percent of nonaggressive prisoners in the same facilities," Dr. Gail Melson wrote in a Psychology Today column about the phenomenon.

There have been other pet mutilations around Puget Sound recently. Last September, a cat was stolen from the Whisker City shelter in Shoreline. The cat's body was found in a nearby Dumpster with its head crushed and eyes pulled out, according to the shelter.

Just a few weeks before that incident, an Edmonds homeowner found his dog dead on his lawn. The dog, a 10-pound poodle, died of a collapsed lung. But the dog also had a section of flesh carved from its body - what appeared to be the work of someone wielding a knife.

If you know anything about the cat killings in Port Angeles and Thurston County, call Thurston County Animal Services at 360-352-2510.