Tacoma police towed the Owen Beach sailboat where 60 cats were found and referred the case to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.

The 40-foot vessel was towed to an undisclosed location in early September, Tacoma Police Department (TPD) Public Information Officer Shelbie Boyd told The News Tribune. The boat's owner, Derek Hieb, signed over both the cats and the vessel to authorities. The boat will be dismantled and destroyed.

TPD detectives have forwarded their investigation to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. No criminal charges had been filed as of Wednesday, Sept. 9, and the prosecutor's office has not publicly commented on the referral.

Boyd had signaled the step was coming. On Aug. 11, she told The News Tribune that once all the cats had been examined, information on the boat's conditions would be forwarded to the prosecutor for possible charges.

The case began Aug. 7 when officers responding to a welfare check found dozens of cats roaming a mastless sailboat anchored near Owen Beach with no owner in sight. Boyd described conditions aboard the vessel as "deplorable." Private cat trapper Camille Sutherland, who boarded the boat during the rescue, found cat feces 2 inches deep on the floor and empty feeding bowls, The News Tribune reported.

Officers rescued nearly 30 cats on Aug. 7, 23 more on Aug. 10 and additional cats on Aug. 11. All 60 were taken to the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County for veterinary care and placed up for adoption at no fee.

The Seattle Times identified Hieb as a rigger who lived on the boat until a couple of days before police arrived. He told the paper he could not afford to spay or neuter most of the cats after a friend gave him one during the COVID-19 pandemic. That single cat, named Missy, produced litters that grew to dozens over six years.

"It is what it is — it's all my fault," Hieb told The Seattle Times on Aug. 12, before the prosecutorial referral.

The boat was posted for removal on Aug. 12, giving Hieb one week to claim it. He did not, and authorities seized the vessel roughly three weeks later. No source has explained the gap between the Aug. 19 deadline and the tow.

The Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County had more than 500 cats in its care as of Sept. 3, KING 5 reported. That total includes the 60 boat cats, 101 cats seized from a Northeast Tacoma home and 20 found living in a car.

The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has not announced a charging timeline or next court date.