Neighbors thought something smelled fishy in their quiet Florida neighborhood.
What they discovered was far worse than anyone imagined.
And this Florida man’s sick cat trap operation left neighbors white as a ghost.
Deputies uncover gruesome scene in DeFuniak Springs
Tuesday started like any other day on West Violent Lane in DeFuniak Springs until neighbors caught a whiff of something that made their stomachs turn.
The foul stench was coming from a trash can that had been placed by the roadside that morning.
But this wasn’t your typical garbage day discovery.
What deputies found inside that trash can would turn even the strongest stomachs – a bloodied dead cat stuffed inside a bag, its head grotesquely swollen from what appeared to be blunt force trauma.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office responded to the neighbor’s call and immediately knew they were dealing with something far more sinister than a simple animal disposal.
Deputies spotted two armed and baited animal traps positioned strategically outside the property’s fence line.
The traps were ready to spring on any unsuspecting feline that wandered too close.
What happened next would expose a decade-long reign of terror against the local cat population.
Richard Taylor’s ten-year killing spree comes to light
The property owner, 64-year-old Richard Steven Taylor, didn’t even try to hide what he’d been doing when deputies contacted him by phone.
In fact, he seemed proud of it.
"The cats are pests," Taylor argued, as if that justified his bloody campaign.
But Taylor’s confession got even more disturbing.
He bragged to deputies that he’d been setting traps for feral cats for the past ten years and admitted he "kills the g*****n things when [he] catches them."
The casual way Taylor described his killing operation sent chills down the spines of the responding officers.
This wasn’t a one-time incident – this was systematic slaughter that had been going on for a full decade right under everyone’s noses.
When deputies asked Taylor to come outside and speak with them in person, he emerged wearing nothing but his underwear.
And that’s when his true colors really showed.
Cat killer goes berserk on responding deputies
Taylor’s demeanor shifted from casual confession to full-blown rage when he realized deputies weren’t going to pat him on the back for his "pest control" efforts.
The 64-year-old launched into a profanity-laced tirade that lasted several minutes.
Deputies watched in disbelief as Taylor "berated deputies using profanity, calling them names, and making threats."
His hostility toward the first responders was so intense that he earned himself an additional charge for threatening a first responder with physical harm.
When deputies informed Taylor he was under arrest, he refused to exit his fenced property multiple times.
Only after authorities allowed him to put on more clothes did he finally comply with their commands.
Here was a guy who acted like killing cats was just another Tuesday chore.
Taylor’s defiance told deputies everything they needed to know – he wasn’t sorry, wasn’t embarrassed, and sure wasn’t going to apologize for what he’d been doing all these years.
What this says about Florida’s animal cruelty problem
Cases like Taylor’s pop up way too often across the state.
Sure, we all get a laugh out of the typical "Florida man" headlines about someone wrestling an alligator or getting arrested for riding a manatee.
This isn’t one of those stories.
How many cats did Taylor kill over ten years? That’s the question nobody wants to answer.
His neighbors probably heard things, smelled things, maybe even saw those traps – but nobody called it in until that stench became impossible to ignore.
Or perhaps they simply had no idea what was happening behind Taylor’s fence until that telltale smell gave him away.
The charges Taylor now faces – aggravated animal cruelty causing death, threatening a first responder with physical harm, and obstruction without violence – carry serious penalties under Florida law.
He was booked into the Walton County Jail and later released on a $21,000 bond.
A court case won’t bring back the cats Taylor killed or erase what happened on West Violent Lane.
Animal abuse cases don’t just stop at one incident – they usually get worse until someone finally steps in.
Taylor called it "pest control" but spent a decade setting traps and killing cats while his neighbors had no clue what was happening behind that fence.
The smell from that trash can probably saved more cats from ending up the same way.
¹ Aurielle Eady, "Florida man arrested for animal cruelty after setting traps to kill cats: deputies," FOX 35 Orlando, July 31, 2025.
² Sierra Rains, "Florida man sets traps for feral cats, tells deputies he ‘kills the ****** things’: WCSO," WFLA, July 30, 2025.
³ FOX 13 News, "Florida man sets traps to kill cats, leaves dead cat in trash can: WCSO," FOX 13 News, July 31, 2025.
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