A San Diego man is mourning his 16-year-old cat, Slick, after a hawk reportedly smashed through his patio screen and carried the animal away. Andrew Vergohven, a registered nurse living in the North Park neighborhood, returned home from work on Monday to find his cat missing and a hole in his patio screen.
Security camera footage revealed that a hawk appeared to have broken through the sliding screen door and attacked Slick, who was sleeping near the patio. The footage shows the hawk carrying the cat away shortly after 11:30 a.m. "I was just so surprised how fast he got him out of here," Vergohven told NBC San Diego.
Vergohven described Slick as a beloved companion. He searched the neighborhood for his roughly six-pound cat and posted about his disappearance on a local neighborhood app. Vergohven noted that he had frequently seen hawks in the area, including one perched in a large palm tree across the patio, but had not considered them a threat to his indoor cat.
"I didn't really think I need to protect my cat because he is an indoor cat," Vergohven said. He issued a warning to other pet owners in the area, advising them to be vigilant if hawks appear to be loitering. "If it looks like the hawk is staying around a lot, he's stalking your cat. Please keep the windows shut," he urged.
The attack is considered unusual, as most hawks cannot carry more than one to two pounds, according to BirdWatching Magazine. No other hawk attacks have been reported in the North Park neighborhood. The San Diego Humane Society stated that it had no further information regarding Slick's disappearance.
Incidents of pets encountering wild animals are not uncommon, particularly during warmer weather when doors and windows are often opened for ventilation, a representative from the San Diego Humane Society noted. "We do have to remember our pets may be able to get out, or vice versa. Something may be able to get inside," the representative said.