Weatherly Borough officials are concerned about a report of multiple dead animals showing up on borough streets in recent weeks.

And Mayor Tom Connors reported at Monday's council meeting that he wants residents to report any suspicious activity to police."The key is to report it right away," Connors said. "No one should hurt an animal."He reminded residents that it is illegal to harm feral cats.Feral cats have long been an issue in the borough, officials say, with residents on both sides.But this is the first time that Connors has heard of residents killing the cats.He said that a resident recently told him that they found seven dead cats, which may have been killed by poisoning.But the resident did not immediately contact police after the incident, so they were unable to follow up.One person has been caught and charged with poisoning a cat in the borough. A woman saw her neighbor attempting to pour dish detergent onto cat food that she had left out. Dish detergent can be harmful to cats. Police couldn't comment on that investigation at Monday's meeting.Connors said the alleged poisoning he heard about occurred in the Maple Street section of the borough. Weatherly does have a trap, neuter and release program aimed at cutting down on the number of feral cats, which does take place in that same area.Connors, whose other job is as an animal control officer, said that he longed for a solution from the state to the feral cat problems that plague Weatherly and many other small boroughs around Carbon County and beyond."The state has money for everything else, why not the cats?" he said.