Cat shot, resulting in death
Frenchtown, NJ (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Aug 8, 2009
County: Hunterdon
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Someone shot Cookie the cat, a friendly black-and-white creature who was a favorite in his neighborhood, just north of the borough school.
Yesterday [Aug 8, 2009] at about 1:30 p.m. his owner, Dave Savidge, was told by a neighbor that Cookie was crying in a back yard next to the school's parking lot. "He was bleeding and his right front leg was broken," said Savidge, who had gotten the cat as a kitten seven years ago.
"We thought he'd been hit by a car on Harrison Street," said Betty Westlake, Savidge's grandmother. She said the cat was sweet and affectionate, but daring and foolish in traffic.
But when they took the cat to the Spring Mills Veterinary Hospital where he was examined and X-rayed, "the vet found a nickel-sized wound in his left side and another wound near his leg," said Savidge. "The X-ray showed metal fragments causing internal bleeding, and the vet said he'd been shot."
The cat's leg was shattered, he said, but he is unable to figure out how that happened unless Cookie fell from a great height after he'd been shot. The cat loved heights.
The injuries were so severe, euthanasia was decided upon.
"What kind of person would shoot a sweet cat like Cookie?" Westlake asked with anger and sadness.
Hoping that the Frenchtown police can help answer that question, Savidge said today that he would report the crime to the authorities tomorrow.
He believes the shooting must have occurred right near the school because the cat couldn't have gone far with a shattered leg and grievous internal damage. References |
