LAYTON — It’s a real-life mystery shaping up in a Layton neighborhood: Eight cats have vanished in less than two months.

Neighbors fear the worst, while animal control officers aren’t sure what to think.

It started in late May, when Daniel Chamberlain’s cat, Theodore, disappeared. It was a pet who had been with him to comfort him in his darkest hours after his father died two years ago.

“It makes me sad even now,” Chamberlain said, looking at a video of Theodore on his phone. “He was my best friend. I couldn’t possibly be closer to a human son.”

Videos, pictures and memories are all he has now.

“I cried pretty much every night for the first long while,” said Chamberlain, 21. “I miss him so much. I know he’s in a better place now, but I miss him more than anything.”

His mother, Julie Chamberlain, suspects foul play — likely poisoning. Since Theodore disappeared, seven other neighborhood cats also have gone missing. All of them lived within about 200 yards of each other.

One cat, Julie Chamberlain said, returned home extremely sick and ultimately died. Another’s carcass was discovered in a yard.

“I just want them to realize what they’ve done, pick up any poison they’ve got lying around and stop it,” she said.

Davis County Animal Control director Clint Thacker questioned whether somebody actually poisoned the cats.

Thacker suggested a number of other possibilities: The cats may have been unintentionally poisoned, perhaps by antifreeze; the cats may have contracted a disease that imitates poisoning; they might have been killed by a predatory animal; or perhaps they were simply trapped by a neighbor and taken to a shelter.

“It’s a scary thing. You never want any animals to be poisoned,” Thacker said. “It’s definitely a possibility.”

Thacker said he wasn’t aware of the cases until news reports surfaced Monday.

Julie Chamberlain said she checked the county shelter multiple times. If somebody did turn in the cats, Thacker said the person would have been asked where and how they were caught.

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The county, Thacker said, has not been asked to launch an investigation. It would likely involve going to the neighborhood to conduct interviews and establish a history in the event of more cases.

Thacker is now reminding all pet owners to tag or microchip their animals. At the very least, it is much faster to locate them if they wind up in a shelter.

Daniel Chamberlain, meanwhile, can’t be consoled.

“It just disgusts me that somebody’s doing this,” he said. “It’s obvious somebody’s doing this. Eight cats in a five-week period — it’s significant.”

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