A young cat was left partially-blinded last week after it was shot in the face with a pellet gun, near Luard Avenue in Princeton.
“It was shocking,” said the cat’s owner Megan Parent.
“I was so sad and angry and just couldn’t imagine that someone could do this to someone’s family member.”
Parent said her boyfriend discovered the seriously injured animal – named Poca – about 10 a.m. Tuesday, while he was out walking the couple’s two dogs.
“He came in the house with the cat and showed me what happened. Without hesitation we took him to the Cascade Vet Clinic in town.”
While they first thought Poca might have been injured by a deer or a passing car, an x-ray revealed the cat had been shot.
“They said they would have to remove the eye and remove the pellet without losing him or causing really bad brain damage.”
While Poca is now recovering comfortably at home, and has lost his eye, the pellet remains in his head, lodged behind his jaw.
The bill for Poca’s surgery and care was $1,400, but it was money well spent, said Parent.
“We received amazing service. They [the vets] took care of him right away.”
Parent has no idea who might have wanted to harm Poca.
“Both of my cats are trained, in and out, and to stay around my house never farther than a few houses away,” she said, adding she has never heard a complaint about her pets’ behaviors.
“They only go towards you if you are saying ‘hi,” she said. “Most of my neighbors do have animals, cats and dogs.”
Parent is unaware of any enemies who would want to harm her pets, but said she has heard stories of other animals in the Allison Flats area being shot in the past.
“It wasn’t done by accident. Someone shot him in the eye because they wanted to and I just can’t understand who could do that.”
Parent didn’t report the attack to the police because she has no proof of what happened.
“If I do know who it is I will go to the police and do what needs to be done to the person who is hurting animals in this town. I just hope that this person sees how much damage he or she did in this town by doing that and that it will never happen again,” she said.
RCMP Sergeant Barry Kennedy expressed surprise at the extremity of the attack, when interviewed by The Spotlight.
While complaints of animal abuse are not unusual they generally “are not this drastic,” he said.
“There is always somebody saying someone hit their dog or they saw someone kick their cat but to actually shoot them and maim them in that way that they are harmed for life is uncommon.”
Kennedy said somebody apprehended for such a crime could face criminal charges of animal cruelty and charges under municipal bylaw for discharging a pellet gun in town.
“If anybody knows who did this we would love to know about it,” he said.
