LAKE CLARKE SHORES, Fla. — A Florida family is securing their home after two of their cats were shot in the back with a pellet gun, forcing them to be euthanized.
Police are looking for whoever is responsible.
First, it was Peanut, a black kitten, and then Fritz, a 4-year-old white and orange cat back in March and April, respectively.
They came home to their owner, Debbie Hiatt, with a wound in their back and their hind legs dragging back in the spring.
“The biggest thing for me was just wanting to find someplace else to live. Because I don’t trust anyone,” Hiatt said in an interview.
In X-rays, you can see a single pellet lodged in each one of their spines
A veterinarian would have no choice but to put them down.
Peanut was the hardest.
“His front was so full of life but nothing in the back. Even Fritz was hard, but the baby? It was a lot harder with the baby,” Hiatt said.
Since then, taking no chances, she and her husband John had cameras installed around their home and secured their back porch for their remaining cats and dogs. She says six other cats have inexplicably gone missing over the last year.
“It’s not fair to the animals. They don’t know. And what they could have done is come to me and said 'hey, keep your animals out of my yard.' And then at that point in time, we would have done this probably a lot sooner. And then I would have still have Peanut. And Fritz,” she said.
Lake Clark Shores police say they have identified a person of interest but haven’t made an arrest yet.
“Catch the person. I’m going to catch the person either doing it to another animal. Hopefully not any of mine. But eventually, they’ll get caught,” Hiatt said.
