Deputies Investigating Reports of Cat Shot by Arrow
There have been reports of several cat shootings in Knox county, Tennessee over the recent months. The sheriff’s office of Knox County were called out to the 2200 block of Shipetown Road in northeast Knox County on Monday after a call about a cat being shot by an arrow was called in. 10News reported that the cat was alive, but it was the third call about cat shootings that had been taken over the past two months.
A woman contacted Feral Feline Friends of East Tennessee earlier this month after finding a little feral that was limping due to an injury close to a feral colony, according to Kara Disbrow, president of the non-profit organization that cares for feral cats in the northeast sector of Knox County. What was discovered when the cat was retrieved for medical treatment, was that a bullet had hit the cat’s femur causing irreparable damage. The leg had to be amputated and now, Denzel, the cat was named, lives with three legs. Disbrow is now caring for the cat at her home. She reports that he is such a sweet cat and cannot understand why anyone would want to hurt a cat.
On another call back in early February, deputies responded to a home on Old Rutledge Pike after a man who lives in Knox County called to report that his cat, J.R. had been shot earlier that day by either a pellet of a BB-gun.
Disbrow lives just miles from where all of the shooting incidents have been happening and said that it is just frightening that it is happening that close to home. It doesn’t matter if it is just one person or three, that are responsible, it’s scary and sick.
10News has talked to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and spoke with deputies about the shootings. According to 10News, deputies have spoken to the department of animal control and they claim that they have not seen a prevalence of cat shootings in that area. Regardless, the three reports that have taken close by to Disbrow have put her on alert and she is going to remain vigilant about the situation.
Disbrow says that people need to take a different action if an animal is a problem or nuisance, or if you come across an animal that is injured. Instead of shooting the animal, all you have to do is call animal control and let them come out and take care of the animal. Shooting is not the answer, and it’s not humane.
Cats do tend to roam if they are left out, especially if they are not spayed or neutered. It is illegal to let your cats roam in Knox County, so if you own a cat, you need to have them spayed or neutered in case they do get out, in order to prevent them from roaming. This is especially important if you live in the Knox County area since there have been the issues with random shootings of cats lately.
