Olivia Parker was shocked on May 7 when she heard a blood-curdling scream from the backyard of her Vancouver Island home.
She rushed out to find Leo, her daughter’s two-and-a-half-year-old cat who had been missing since May 4, lying there with one of his eyes blown out, with a pellet from an air gun still lodged in his eye socket, and two more wounds in his throat and ear.
Parker, a resident of Maple Bay near Duncan, recalled hearing the sound of an air gun being shot three times from a neighbouring yard on May 4, the day Leo went missing, so the badly wounded feline apparently had spent three days dragging himself from where he had been shot to her back porch where he screamed for help.
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She immediately rushed Leo, whose awful wounds were badly infected after three days, to Duncan Animal Hospital. Staff did all they could to save the badly injured cat, but Leo’s wounds were so severe that he had to be euthanized.
Veterinarian Gillian Wiley at Duncan Animal Hospital said Leo’s injuries were appalling.
She said the injuries had occurred at least a day or two before Leo was taken to the hospital and he had a very high fever as well.
“He was in very bad shape and, after we did a necropsy on him, we found that he also had a hole in the back of his throat,” Wiley said.
“It was a horrible thing to have happened and we were shocked for both Leo and our client.”
Parker, who was traumatized by the incident along with her two daughters, said it’s not the first time she has had bad experiences with her pet cats in the 13 years she has lived in Maple Bay, in the area around Janet Place and Margaret Place just off Maple Bay Road.
In that time, she has had four cats either trapped, missing or killed and she believes most or all of the incidents are connected to one person in the area.
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Parker said she has contacted the RCMP and the Cowichan Valley branch of the SPCA, but was told there is little they can do without specific evidence linking the person she believes did it to the attack on Leo.
“I went on social media and asked that anyone with information to report it to the police, and I heard back from two people and a feral cat rescue group who said they have had similar experiences with cats in this neighbourhood,” she said.
“My two daughters are traumatized by this whole thing and want to move away from here. I’m asking that anyone with further information about this to call the SPCA.”
The SPCA’s Eileen Drever confirmed that the incident is under investigation and anyone who has any information about it is encouraged to call the SPCA at 1-855-622-7722.
She said there is no hard evidence pointing to who is responsible at this time.
“Under the criminal code of Canada it is an offence to kill or wound an animal, and the maximum penalty is two years in prison and/or a $1,000 fine,” Driver said.
“People should keep their cats indoors.”
