Father and son conspire to kill neighbor’s pet cat, Taco, after it attacks their chocolate lab, Cola, police say

A Nevada father and son are accused of conspiring to kill a neighbor’s cat that had wandered onto their property and gotten into a scuffle with their three dogs.

On April 14, Las Vegas Metropolitan police responded to 911 calls about a gunshot around 9 p.m. in a northwest valley neighborhood.

Karl Garcia, 41, and his son, Logan Garcia, 23, told officers a cat had attacked their elderly dog, an arrest report states, according to KSNV. 

Karl Garcia allegedly admitted he and his son attempted to get the cat out of their backyard and he resorted to shooting the animal and leaving the corpse in a dumpster “so their trash would not stink.” 

Police wrote in the report they were able to use a microchip implanted in the gray and white housecat to track down its owners, who said the pet, named Taco, was friendly and never had any problems with neighbors before. 

During the investigation, officers noted the father and son’s chocolate lab, Cola, had a scratch under its eye and they watched footage captured by a Ring camera set up to surveil the backyard.

The police report notes three dogs can be seen on video chasing Taco around before surrounding the cat. In an attempt to get the animal out of the yard, the son, Logan Garcia, swats the cat with a blanket, knocking it into a spa.

The clip allegedly shows “Taco on the edge of the spa with the canines barking” and the son “gets a phone call and speaks about the cat refusing to leave” and “about the cat getting muddy footprints on the pool deck,” KLAS-TV reported.

Karl Garcia is then seen “pumping the BB gun and firing it into Taco at close range” and “then says he is going to get his .22,” officers wrote in their description of the video.

“From watching the video clips, it is readily apparent that Taco was a terrified cat that posed no threat to anyone,” police said.

Both men were arrested and booked on charges of conspiracy to kill another’s animal and destroying evidence. The father, Karl Garcia, also faces a charge of willful/malicious killing of a cat.

The father and son were released on their own recognizance.