Villagers mourn pet snatched from lanai after screen ripped open

A Village of Lynnhaven couple is mourning the loss of a cat, snatched from their lanai after the screen was ripped open by a wild animal.

The 20-year-old cat named Tucker was taken overnight Friday from the lanai of their home on Saludo Street. The cat belonged to Stew Warner and Cindy Ewing who moved to The Villages in November 2012 from Maryland.

The elderly, slow-moving cat lived primarily out on the lanai. There is a streetlight and plenty of activity nearby, Warner said. They didn’t think they were leaving their cat in a vulnerable position.

But a bobcat or coyote ripped through the screen and took the cat, whose body was not recovered.

“He made easy prey,” Warner said.

They were planning to put the cat down in about a month.

“We wish it wouldn’t have ended this way,” Warner said.

It’s not the first pet snatching in The Villages in recent months.

Last month, a cat named Annie was killed in Bellamy Villas in the Village of Ashland.

In August, a seven-year-old Morkie was snatched by a coyote as his owner, Gene Ricca of the Village of Belle Aire, took the pet out prior to turning in for the night.

Ricca then made an emotional plea to Community Development District 3 to do something about the predatory coyotes. At that meeting in September, District Property Manager Sam Wartinbee said he has received more complaints about coyotes than he has ever received.