BY AVERY GOODSTINE for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 8/14/2026
If you haven’t heard about the more than 40 cats that were found abandoned on a shabby boat off Owen Beach near Point Defiance, where have you been?
On Thursday, Aug. 6, the Tacoma Police Department’s Marine Services Unit responded to reports about the boat, leading officers to find dozens of cats and kittens on board. As of Tuesday afternoon, Officer Shelbie Boyd of TPD said 60 cats had been rescued by police. Of those 56, one was saved by a nearby swimmer after he heard something fall into the water, and two cats were “illegally rescued” by people other than animal control. All of the cats rescued by Tacoma Animal Control will be going to the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County.
And the owner of the boat? Nowhere to be found.
Let’s be honest, this situation is WEIRD, and there are still so many unanswered questions: Who owns the boat? Why were there more than 50 cats being kept there? How long have they been there? Who’s been taking care of them?
The uniqueness of the situation has garnered immense local media coverage, as well as some attention from national media outlets. KOMO News, KING 5, Tacoma Weekly, The News Tribune and FOX 13 Seattle are some of the local outlets that have gotten in on the action. Nationally, the story is being covered by People, NBC News’ TODAY and WBNS-10TV out of Ohio, among others.
This meowtiny, as some are calling it on social media, has also grabbed the attention of animal rescues, such as Onalaska Farm Sanctuary in Onalaska, Washington, and Horn Creek Rescue, based in Tacoma. Local animal advocates and community boaters have also been speaking out and sharing information on social media.
Joe Parrington, also known as Catman on Facebook, is a known animal advocate specializing in trapping and caring for feral cats in Pierce County.
He’s been avidly posting his thoughts on the situation and sharing information he’s received from TPD, as he’s worked closely with animal control in other situations involving feral cats.
Parrington has been following all of the local reporting on the situation, even calling out KING 5 reporter Farah Jadran, whom he called “reckless” and “lazy” in an Aug. 9 post. He has since apologized for some of what he said in the post after speaking to KING 5 News Director Susannah Frame. However, he stands firm that Jadran’s reporting was inaccurate.
Parrington is referring to Jadran’s incorrect reporting on Aug. 8, when she stated all of the cats and kittens were safely removed from the boat during a two-day rescue mission. Since then, she’s stated the initial report was due to the wording of TPD’s Aug. 7 Facebook post about the situation, which stated, “every cat and kitten is being safely removed from the boat.”
And the drama doesn’t stop there.Parrington also called out fellow cat trapper Camille Sutherland for taking it upon herself to go to the abandoned boat and check out the situation. He posted a screenshot of one of Sutherland’s posts, in which she said TPD and animal control “failed big time” and they could have “easily called a trapping organization.” She went on to say she’s “livid” about the situation and she was preparing to paddleboard out to the boat with food, water, traps and cameras.
Under an Aug. 8 News Tribune post, Sutherland posted a photo she took on the abandoned boat, stating there were at least two inches of feces covering the floor.
In his post, Parrington reminded everyone that the boat is registered to someone and is therefore private property. Nobody can enter the boat without permission from the owner unless they obtain a warrant, which TPD did.
“Tacoma Animal Control and Tacoma Police would have gladly accepted my offer to help or the offer from any other rescue that specializes in trapping,” his post reads. “But legally, because this is a criminal investigation and because they did not have contact with or permission from the owner, they could not legally allow me or anyone that was not law enforcement on the boat. Not even Tacoma Humane was permitted to enter.”
TPD has confirmed who the boat is legally registered to, but the name can’t be publicly released until the criminal investigation is further along. However, a number of citizens have stated they are familiar with the boat and have previously seen the man it belongs to.
LeeAnna Miller is an avid fisher in the same area where the boat was found. She said she thinks the boat is owned by a man named David, whom she knows through casual small talk.
“We didn’t know he had kept the cats on his boat,” she said. “We just know he was a little off, some days very social, other days not at all.”
Miller said he lived on the boat, which was often moored off Owen Beach. She was in the area Tuesday morning and said there had been no sign of him since the cats were found. The last time she saw him was in January during squid season.
Miller added she’s fairly sure he was a regular at the Point Defiance Marina and that the local Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff knew him as well.
Another citizen said the boat was previously moored at Breakwater Marina.
Chris Savenetti saw the boat when he checked his crab pots Monday evening. He said the cats looked “fairly healthy” and “not malnourished.”
“The cats were very curious about my boat,” he said. “I almost thought one was going to jump aboard my boat.”
He added that he’s seen the boat there for about a month, describing it as a “nondescript derelict” boat.
Local boat community influencer Leash Bear (real name Alicia Fowler) said she’s seen the boat floating near the Tacoma Yacht Club. She said she had no idea about the cats, but she did complain about the boat to the club because it was obviously derelict.
“It had no mast, which for a sailboat is a big no-no,” she said. “It was dangerously sitting there with no lights, which is dangerous for boaters returning to the yacht club at night.”
Many on social media are calling it a “ghost boat” and claiming it smells like a floating litter box.
Once the cats have been seen by a vet, Boyd said, their conditions will help determine how the criminal investigation continues and what charges will be pursued.
