FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eric Phelps, 503-754-0977, eric@idausa.org

$2,500 Reward Offered In Cat Cruelty Case

Cat shot with hunting arrow

Saginaw, Mich. (September 25, 2014) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization with more than 150,000 supporters, is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever brutally shot a cat with a hunting arrow in Spaulding Township, just south of Saginaw. The friendly male cat was found near a Spaulding Township residence on Tuesday, September 16 with an arrow piercing his body. He was taken to a local vet where it was determined that he’d been suffering with the injury for several days. Due to the extent of the injury it was decided to humanely euthanize him to stop his suffering.

“The cold-bloodedness of this terrible crime indicates what a danger this person is to all of us,” said Eric Phelps, Emergency Response Unit Coordinator for IDA. “Someone knows who did this, and he or she will be serving the entire community by stepping forward.” Phelps added that FBI and other law enforcement agencies agree that a person who commits cruelty to animals “is probably just warming up,” a reference to studies showing that unpunished violence to animals usually leads to violence directed at people.

Anja Heister, IDA’s director of the Wild and Free-Habitats Campaign, which focuses on advocating for wildlife said, “This horrific act of wounding a cat with a bow and arrow is a perfect example of how cruel and barbaric bow hunting is. Not only are the majority of animals hit by arrows merely wounded and never retrieved by the so-called “hunter”, but this tragedy also shows that many wild animals hit by an arrow, instead of dying a quick death, suffer a prolonged and painful death, like this poor cat. What it comes down to is that bow hunting (as with hunting and trapping in general) is violence against animals, and whoever shot this cat didn’t care about inflicting pain, suffering, or death on another defenseless being.”

IDA urges anyone with information about this brutal attack to contact Saginaw County Animal Care Center at (989) 797-4500. To contribute to IDA’s Animal Cruelty Reward Fund, please call IDA at (415) 448-0048, ext. 218. Photos of the injured cat may be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1viiolT

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