Distraught North Augustan seeks answers after cat was shot

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - North Augusta officers are looking for a person who they say shot a cat. It happened on West Martintown Road. The cat survived, but now his owner wants answers.

Julian Richards filed a report with the North Augusta Department of Public Safety after Kitty who was injured in the Oct. 3 shooting with a small-caliber gun.

“My cat is very friendly and usually stays inside but sometimes he gets bored and wants to go out,” Richards told News 12.

After Richards let the approximately year-old orange shorthair go outside, the shooting happened sometime between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the 900 block of West Martintown Road.

Kitty was found in the back yard limping.

He thought maybe the car got bit by a squirrel or something but he didn’t expect what happened next.

“It was looked really awful,” said Richards, who took Kitty to an animal hospital.

“They took X-rays, and it appears as it looks like somebody shot him with like a low-caliber gun,” Richards said.

Kitty may have been shot, but gets to recover with a cat-colored bandage around his leg. — Kitty may have been shot, but gets to recover with a cat-colored bandage around his leg.(WRDW)

Richards and Kitty are best friends.

“I love this cat very much he sleeps with me every night,” he said.

He can’t believe someone would hurt his pet.

“It’s really sad someone would do that. He was shot and survived and I think he was very lucky,” he said.

Now he’s looking for answers.

“I’d just like to know who did it, you know, they don’t do it again to other people’s pets,” he said.

An X-ray (left) shows the bullet that was lodged inside Kitty. — An X-ray (left) shows the bullet that was lodged inside Kitty.(WRDW)

He says Kitty is very friendly and smart, despite a little bit of pain, Kitty is still playing on his broken shoulder with the bullet still inside. The surgery to remove the bullet would cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000.

“It’s in a nonthreatening place so for now, it’ll stay in and the splint will stay on,” he said.

The North Augusta Department of Public Safety is aware of the incident but there is no evidence or witnesses to help in the investigation and unfortunately Kitty can’t talk.

“Cats have nine lives,” Richards said. “He survived.”

North Augusta Public Safety says that if you have any information, call 803-441-4251.

MORE | Can you help catch cat shooter in North Augusta?

Copyright 2021 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.