Cat shot with .22
Middletown, PA (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Aug 17, 2005
County: Washington
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
A 5-year-old black cat nameed Brutus showed up injured on the back porch of his Middletown home at about dinner time on Aug 17. He was in pain as he lay on a chair and liquid oozed from his right eye socket, said Mary Prem, who was cat-sitting Friday for Brutus' owners, Elizabeth Braun and Mistee Rowland.
"It was so gross," Prem recalled. "I can't even describe what it looked like. It just popped out."
The right eyeball was shot out and destroyed while Brutus, who's also known as Black Guy, was making his rounds.
A veterinarian pulled out a .22-caliber slug. Luckily, though, the slug only damaged the eyeball and didn't enter the cat's brain. Brutus can still see through his left eye.
Prem said the cat was shot sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday evening.
She said Brutus typically spends his time behind his house in the 1700 block of New Rodgers Road or across the street in Levittown's Snowball Gate section. Prem said the neighbors were just as shocked as the owners were about the shooting.
Middletown police are investigating, Prem said, adding that police also called the local animal control officer because the cat shooting was an apparent case of animal cruelty.
Prem said no one knows what prompted a person to shoot a friendly cat like Brutus.
In a report, Dr. Jill Kalman, a veterinarian with the Center for Animal Referral and Emergency Services in Middletown, said the cat was "fairly stable" despite the trauma to the right eye.
Brutus spends part of his time outdoors, but from now on he'll remain an indoor cat, Prem said. References« PA State Animal Cruelty Map
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