Two silver pellets nearly cost a New Brunswick cat all nine lives.
Luckily, they didn't hit any major organs, but they did cause what are described as massive internal injuries.
“He has an incision from here down to here, but he is doing well, he's on antibiotics, he's on antibiotics and he's on painkillers as well for the next three weeks,” said the cat’s owener, Glen McLean.
The one-and-a-half-year-old black cat named Waddles is now recovering from surgery after being shot twice late on Sunday afternoon in a wooded area near his owners' home in Hampton.
“We just see this wonderful little animal, incredibly kind and incredibly inquisitive, and we just can't figure out why someone would intentionally shoot an animal,” McLean said.
McLean believes whoever pulled the trigger on the pellet gun was shooting to kill.
“The vet in Prince Edward Island said the range was so close, that the cat must have been less than six inches away,” he said.
The Saint John SPCA has put out a warning on social media to residents in Hampton about the shootingwhich they say is very concerning.
“If someone is doing it to a cat, they can do it to a bird, or a dog, wildlife or a person, so we would like to know as well,” said Joan Richardson, the shelter manager for the Saint John SPCA. “It's about getting the information out there to say ‘does anybody know what's happened’ or could they contact us, or the police, or Crimestoppers because this is abuse and it can't happen.”
McLean and his husband Randy, who are well-known in the area as owners of a local coffee business, say they'll make a $1,000 donation to the Saint John SPCA in the name of whoever helps them find the culprit.
In the meantime, as they try and figure out the who, Waddles' owners will continue to grapple with the why.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Lyall.
