UCA housing staff found a dead cat underneath a refrigerator in Erbach room 208 on Feb. 15 after being left vacant over winter break.
None of the previous tenants, Shiori Enomoto, Hyoju Kim, Jo-Wen Ling and Asuka Kakai, reported that they had owned a cat.
According to a UCAPD report, officer David Stone was dispatched at 10:08 a.m. Feb. 15 for an animal cruelty report made by Dewayne George, a housing maintenance worker.
“Located in the first bedroom was a mattress covered in feline urine and feces. The window blinds had been chewed up and destroyed. In the second bedroom, the blinds had been chewed and damaged. Housing maintenance personnel were able to locate the deceased cat under the fridge,” Stone said in the report.
“Rigor mortis had already set in on the corpse but it had not begun to decay,” Stone said.
Also in the UCAPD report was a narrative forwarded from Stephanie McBrayer, associate vice president of Housing and Residence Life.
The following summarizes a timeline of McBrayer’s narrative:
Dec. 17: “The apartment was walked for closing, everything was in order and no damages were found,” McBrayer said. In the report, Lt. Mike Shaw said, “Housing staff stated when they did their check out process with the former residents of the apartment, back in December of 2023, they did not see the cat.”
Jan. 7: ”The apartment was checked again to make sure it was move-in ready. It was then that the cat was seen on top of the refrigerator [alive],” McBrayer said. McBrayer took the apartment offline and then contacted UCAPD and then animal control where she left a voicemail. Associate Director for Residence Life, Nechele McClinton-Gates, said that the cat was spotted by the resident coordinator sleeping on top of the refrigerator and appeared “alive and healthy.”
Jan. 8: “[Animal control] did a thorough check and set a trap for overnight,” McBrayer said.
Jan. 9: The trap was found empty and animal control left after doing another check. In the report, Lt. Mike Shaw said, “I made contact with Conway Animal Control Officer Davis … Davis said he left the trap for almost 48 hours before returning to the apartment. Davis said, upon returning, he still did not see the cat and there was no fresh urine or feces inside the apartment. Davis said he then completed a thorough search of the apartment to include under furniture, in all cabinets and drawers, in air vents, and behind appliances. Davis said he could not find an entry point for the cat. Davis said at that time there were no fresh signs of a cat so he removed the trap.”
Jan. 10: “I sent four of my RAs to check the apartment again the next day, but nothing was found,” McBrayer said.
Feb. 8: McBrayer was asked if the apartment was still offline. She submitted a cleaning request.
Feb. 15: Dewayne George discovered the cat dead under the refrigerator after being called by cleaning staff workers who suspected an animal had died in the room.
One of the previous tenants, Shiori Enomoto said, “The story was really shocking for me and my roommates.”
While Enomoto was not certain how the cat had entered the dorm, she had a theory as to how this could have happened.
“There are many street cats around Erbach Apartments,” Enomoto said.
Enomoto added that after she and her roommates had checked out of the apartment there was a message left in the “Erbach 2023-2034” GroupMe that said, “Whoever lives in 208, your door is open.”
This message was sent Dec. 20, three days after the apartment was walked.
“My friends said the door had been open for a few days,” Enomoto said.
“My roommates and I assume that some street cats got in room 208 since the door was open for [a] long time after we left,” Enomoto said.
McClinton-Gates said that the staff responded, “I am not aware of the door being seen open for an extended period of time. The door was closed the same day it was reported and to my knowledge the door remained closed until opened on Jan. 7.”
McClinton-Gates said that there are no cameras in any of Erbach complexes.