A Jonesborough man was convicted 8/8/2001 by a Washington County Criminal Court jury for fatally shooting a former neighbor�s cat with an arrow and a compound bow.
After deliberating for an hour, a jury of 12 men found Tommy Fender, 40, B Chase Road, guilty of intentional killing of an animal. Fender admitted shooting Emily, who was described by her owner as about a foot long and 8-10 inches tall, on Oct. 8, saying the cat had killed his chickens.
Fender shot the cat, which was about 32 feet onto the land where he was living on Deacon Creek Road. The arrow went through the cat�s body in the hind area. Sam Phillips Jr., a Washington County sheriff�s deputy, testified the cat moved about 30 feet after she was shot.
The jury rejected Fender�s contention the shooting was justified because the cat was putting the chickens at immediate risk of dying. Ronnie Britt, jury foreman, cited the fact the cat was 450 feet from the chickens when she was shot. Fellow juror Tony Cook said the cat might have been around the chickens on another day, but wasn�t the day she was shot.
Cook said the jury did not believe Fender had a reason to shoot Emily and that could have called law enforcement or animal control officers instead. Britt said had Fender gone to animal control officers first or used a trap on Emily and then shot her when she came on his property again, the jury might have had more sympathy for him.
During his testimony, Fender questioned what law enforcement could have done. He said a number of cats had come on his property but he did not know who their owners were.
Fender said during the sentencing hearing that he had killed another cat that was attacking his chickens before with a shotgun.
Judge Lynn Brown sentenced Fender to 11 months and 29 days probation except for a weekend in jail. The probation will run concurrent with the three years of probation he received in Unicoi County Criminal Court for an unrelated reckless aggravated assault conviction.
The jury also fined Fender $2,400, $100 less than the maximum. Britt said the panel was trying to send a message that enough animals had been treated badly.
Roger Day, Fender�s attorney, said his client would not appeal.
Yates testified she had let Emily out of her house on Deacon Creek Road, and the cat eventually ended up on Fender's land. Just as the cat was about to sit down, she was shot with the arrow, Yates testified. She said her husband went to check on Emily, who had lived with the couple for about a year, and then told her to call 911.
Yates said her cat was timid and not a predator. Phillips testified that Fender told him he meant to kill Emily and that he had had problems with cats.
"He said he had several (chickens) killed over the last month and was tired of it," Phillips said.
But he and T.J. Watts, Fender�s son, testified that when they saw Emily after she had been shot, they did not see any feathers or blood in her mouth. Phillips said he asked Fender about three recent dead chickens and Fender told him he had thrown them into a nearby creek.
Delbert Watts, a defense witness, testified he had seen a cat near the chickens that looked a lot like Emily but was bigger. Day showed him a picture of Emily and said he had seen Emily near the chickens. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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