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WEST COLUMBIA -- It’s been a tough week for Lauren Kittrell and her family; two of their cats went missing earlier this week and a third one met its fate Wednesday morning.

“I was sitting in the living room and I heard a loud noise outside, so I went to see what was going on and there were four dogs attacking a cat,” said Lauren Kittrell of West Columbia.

Kittrell thinks the pack of stray dogs is to blame for the other two missing cats.

“They’ve just been running wild so my family lost three pets, which we really cared about,” said Kittrell.

Though it’s tragic, this scenario isn’t uncommon these days.

“Once animals are released to fend for themselves they have to revert to their natural instincts,” said co-founder Jane Brundage of Pets Inc. 

According to Brundage, the tough economy has caused some people to dump their pets.

Rural neighborhoods are a hot spot for stray animals, and neighbors in Kittrell’s area say they have had problems with wild dogs for several years.

“I had two little dogs get killed by a pack of wild dogs,” said Treas Wooten of West Columbia.

Lexington County Animal Services was able to catch two of the dogs and have set up cages in the neighborhood to capture the rest.  Until then, Kittrell will be spending a little more time indoors.