Dear Editor:
Our cat, Sweetie Pie, went missing for the first time in seven years. That Sunday night on January 7, she ate her dinner and never returned from her routine promenade. Being primarily an outdoor cat, she went on her constitutional walk in the nearby backyards. But that night she did not return as she usually would to sleep in the entrance hall of her owner’s house. A search party went on for the next few days and nights.
The following Thursday her frozen body was finally found in one of the neighbor’s backyard. It was immediately apparent from the position of her corpse that she had died a horrible death. Her front paws were outstretched and all of her claws were drawn out. One of her hind legs was up as if trying to push something away.
Because her companion, Waffle, had been found dead a few months earlier within a couple of feet of where she now laid, her owner became highly suspicious of foul play. Her body was brought to the vet for a necropsy. It’s results were quite frightening as well as very sad. Sweetie Pie had been shot in the heart with a BB gun. It was bull’s eye type of shot. From what we have been able to gather from people who use such guns in a responsible manner, whoever shot her was either extremely lucky or, and most likely, a very good marksman who had the use of a gun with a scope. Either way, the shot created a massive hemorrhage in the left atrium and she died quickly but not peacefully.
From the position of her body in the snow, she made a last attempt as she was dying to escape her murderer by climbing the nearby fence, but her body surrendered and she fell back down.
Sweetie Pie, as her name foretold, was a wonderful cat and much loved by the neighbors on her street. She was only seven years old. We all miss her.
Now we hope that whoever killed her, if willfully, will be lawfully punished. It’s illegal and cruel to shoot cats. BB guns are not meant for target practice on animals or people for they can be lethal to both. If anyone has any information that will successfully lead to the lawful apprehension of Sweetie Pie’s killer, please call to report it to the Weehawken Police (863-7800). Your identity will remain anonymous.
If however this was an accident, we hope that the person will come forward and voice his/her regrets and make the necessary apologies. No charges will then be pressed.
Thank you,
Anonymous