A North Vancouver family is speaking out after their kitty, Carl, was shot by someone in the neighbourhood with a pellet gun.
The incident happened sometime between 8:30 and 10 a.m. on Feb. 1, near Genoa Crescent in the Delbrook neighbourhood.
Owner Donna Krohman said Carl went out for his usual morning sojourn. When they opened the door later that morning to let him in, he bolted inside, jumped on a bed and then refused to move.
“He didn’t come greet me. He didn’t want dinner. He didn’t want to go out at night. He didn’t want a treat. It’s like OK, something’s wrong,” she said.
They took him to Mountainside Animal Hospital, where vets did tests and conducted an X-ray.
“They called us at 1 a.m. saying he had a bullet in his abdomen, and do we know anything about it?” she said. “We were shocked.”
They took him to a specialist in Burnaby who examined him with an ultrasound. That test found an entry wound on his upper thigh, as well as two perforations and a pellet in his small intestine. It could be resolved with an operation, but it was very risky.
“He had a 50 per cent chance of surviving the surgery, and they quoted us a cost of $12,000 to $15,000,” Krohman said. “We had a really tough decision to make, because it was like, can we afford this?”
Ultimately they decided to go ahead with the surgery, and Carl made it out OK and is back home recovering. They saved the pellet and turned it over to the North Vancouver RCMP, which has now started a criminal investigation. The RCMP sent an officer around to canvass the neighbours, looking for information or possible surveillance footage.
Krohman said if she had a chance to speak directly to the person who shot Carl, she’d mainly want to ask them why.
“Is it because they love birds and they don't want cats killing birds, or is it they don't want them in their yard?” she said.
She also questioned whether the person responsible is in need of some help themselves, or if they are they verging on doing something worse.
A neighbour lost a cat to cancer in 2020, but after the fact, they learned he had a pellet lodged between his shoulder blades.Earlier this month, North Vancouver RCMP warned of dog treats being left with broken glass along Mosquito Creek Trail, not far away.
“It's just sad. These are poor, innocent animals, and they're being targeted by someone,” she said.
Outdoor cats have been disappearing from the neighbourhood in recent years, which Krohman said they mostly attributed to predators. But the incident with Carl now forces them to wonder about that.
Since Carl was shot, the family has been sharing the story on social media and putting up posters on the streets nearby. Krohman said they want to alert their neighbours and see someone held accountable.
North Vancouver RCMP Sgt. Peter DeVries said the person responsible could face a criminal code charge of causing an animal to suffer. Anyone with information that may be helpful to the investigations is asked to come forward.
The BC SPCA has also started its own investigation.
Shawn Eccles, senior manager of cruelty investigations at the SPCA, said unfortunately, people taking potshots at animals in their neighbourhood is not all that uncommon.
The organization always recommends that cats be kept indoors because, outside, they are at high risk from other animals, cars and people, and they also prey on wildlife.
But, he said, there is no reason for anyone to be shooting an animal.
“I can't really see you having a lawful excuse for wanting to harm Carl,” he said. “Certainly Carl's owners have suffered as a result of this, not only financially because I'm sure that they'll be facing a fairly significant veterinary bill, but just the suffering from your animal being harmed at all by people in your community.”
Whatever the reason, the family is pleased to see Carl recovering to his former self, Krohman said.
“He's much better, we are getting his stitches out and the feeding tube out (last) Friday. At home, he's pretty much back to normal. He wants to go back outside.”
