Officials are looking into the case of a mutilated cat. The animal's owner says the incident was just part of a larger problem.

Missy Peek is in shock over the death of her cat Niles.

"I don't have my own kids and she's been through everything with me; gone everywhere with me," she said of her pet of five years.

Missy let Niles out at night but she always came right in when called.

On Thursday night she didn't come back and was later found dead in a storm ditch. The cat had been gutted.

Missy and her sister Amy Safford say a No Trespassing sign doesn't stop late night parties in the drainage ditch and the women say that fireworks and alcohol are common at those parties.

Amy says "We hear fireworks at 3 o'clock in the morning, big huge bombs. There's drinking, there's beer bottles. There's always kids out there partying."

The Humane Society tells Channel 6 News that what happened to Missy Peek's cat is a felony under Nebraska law.

The Humane Society's Pam Weise says, "There is definitely a link between animal abuse and escalating abuse that can lead to domestic violence and to even more heinous crimes."

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Humane Society.

The law does not take these cases lightly. Last year an Omaha man was sentenced to more than a year in prison for killing a dog.