“These animals can't speak for themselves and they need justice too,” says Coty Feest and SPCA employee who had to place the dead cats in bags for authorities last week.

The sign in front of the SPCA says “Do not leave animals” here outside the front door, but that is exactly where the dead cats were left one a week ago today.

The employee who found them and the veterinarian who did the necropsy said they animals' skulls had been bashed in, and their bones broken.

And apparently the torture didn't stop there, authorities say just a couple of days ago another cat was found in the area of Sutro and 10th street, authorities say the animal had been beaten with a pipe.

Authorities say all the cats were black, which historically have been targeted over the centuries for superstitious reasons. Even today, these animals are the last to be adopted at shelters and in many places are not allowed to be placed in homes over the Halloween holiday.

Investigators are perplexed as to why the animals were left at the SPCA--was it a message or did someone find the cats and thought this was the appropriate place to take them.

“We don't know for sure what it is, but its very sad and disheartening that people would do that to animals,” says SPCA Executive Director Tom Jacobs.

Jacobs says even if your’e not a cat lover, anyone who would harm a defenseless animal may have no problem turning the aggression on something or someone else.

If you know anything about the bludgeoned cats, you are encouraged to Contact Washoe County Animal Control at 775-324-7786