Twenty-five dead cats have been found in plastic bags hanging from trees in a New York City suburb. It is a reminder of what happened in Mosta over several months before a man was apprehended by police and charged with the killing of cats.

A US investigator says at least some of them were killed with blows to the head.

Ernest Lungaro of the local branch Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Friday that tests on three cats revealed blunt trauma to the head.

He said a baseball bat, two shovels and a metal pipe were found near the scene in the suburb of Yonkers. Some of the cats were skeletons and some had been dead for only three days. A city cleanup crew found them Thursday.

Lungaro said there has been some tension in the neighbourhood over some residents feeding a large population of feral cats.

The SPCA and Yonkers police are investigating.

In March, Maltese police arraigned Nicholas Grech, 37, of Mosta, was charged with the killing of a number of cats and dogs which were found crucified in different areas of his hometown. He was also accused with animal cruelty, violation of burial grounds, trespassing on religious grounds, forcing entry into the Mosta Parish church and l-Isperanza Chapel and slandering the Catholic religion. The incidents spanned more than two years.