A cat that was shot with a pellet gun and later found struggling for life has sparked an animal cruelty investigation in Contra Costa County, with animal rights activists and the pet’s owner rallying to bring the shooter to justice.
Terry Eubanks says she found her cat, Phoenix, dripping blood and barely able to move outside her Walnut Creek home Tuesday evening. The cat, who survived what appears to be a pellet gun blast to the eye, was rushed to an emergency veterinarian.
“It was a bloody mess,” Eubanks told NBC Bay Area. Although the doctors were able to remove a small pellet that had lodged in the eye area and save Pheonix’s life, they were unable to save her eye. Another pellet, lodged in the animal’s jaw, has yet to be removed.
When Eubanks returned home, she received another unwelcome surprise. Pellets littered the ground outside her home.
“Underneath my daughter’s bedroom window, which is very disturbing,” she said.
She says that when she tried to report the latest incident to Contra Costa County Animal Services, the man she spoke with wasn’t “responsive.”
“He said, well, ‘we are not CSI,’” she told NBC Bay Area. “I said that as a public school teacher, I fully understand limited resources. I just wanted a number so that if anyone had any ideas, they could phone them.”
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NBC Bay Area contacted Contra Costa Animal Services, and they said the agency is now committed to investigating the incident.
For Eubanks, that has done little to assuage fears.
“It seems like whoever it is intentionally shot a pet,” she said.
