Cat shot with crossbow survives; police searching for suspect

NEW YORK -- A male cat, with a sad face, is recovering from what very nearly was a deadly blow.

A bolt, or what some refer to as an arrow, to the back of the head. The 18-inch projectile just missed piercing the animals skull.

  

  

 

 It happened in a residential neighborhood near the Fort Edward and Hudson Falls village line.

"Sunday afternoon, one of our deputies took a call that the owner had found a cat with a small crossbow arrow in the back of its head," said Sr. Investigator Tony LeClaire of the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

 

It happened sometime Saturday. The person caring for the cat, who did not want to appear on-camera, says the animal came into her home with the arrow stuck in its head.

She rushed the animal to a veterinary hospital. Amazingly, the vet was able to remove the bolt and stitch up the cat.

Millimeters in another direction, the cat would've been killed. Despite the sad face and the stitches, this is one lucky cat. And that's what his caretaker is calling him now -- Lucky.

 

She says he's off to a good home beginning Tuesday night.

In the meantime, police are looking for the person who used Lucky for target practice.

"We're assuming that it may be intentional. Just on what it is. We're looking for help from the public, if they know anybody that has a crossbow, saw somebody out shooting the crossbow, anything like that," said LeClaire.

(WNYT - Apr 22, 2015)