CTV Vancouver has revealed "heinous" animal abuse on the city's East Side.

Over the past two weeks, three skunks have been found with pieces cut out of their bodies.

Joanna Makowska, a UBC animal-welfare researcher, told reporter Ben Miljure that she discovered the third one in the area around St. Catherine's and East 8th Avenue.

She has reported these animal mutilations to the SPCA, which has launched an investigation and notified Vancouver police.

Makowska told CBC News that she initially thought the first dead skunk might have been hit by a car. A week later, she found a second dead skunk in the same area.

Meanwhile, the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identification and/or arrest of the perpetrator. 

https://twitter.com/FurBearers/status/1034546219543134208

The B.C. SPCA's animal-emergency hotline is 1-855-622-7722.

The Vancouver SPCA's emergency number is 604-879-7343 from 8 a.m. until midnight. After hours, it advises the public to call the Vancouver Police Department.

Animal abuse can lead to other horrific criminal behaviour. A significant number of serial killers of human beings are known to have harmed or killed animals when they were younger. They include Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert Desalvo (the Boston Strangler), Ted Bundy, and Andrew Cunanan. Port Coquitlam's Robert Pickton killed many animals at his pig farm before he went on to prey on marginalized women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.