Cat lives for 8 days after being shot by thug with crossbow.

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 8:23 am

Amazing pictures of cat that lived for EIGHT DAYS with crossbow bolt through its body | Mail Online

Extreme animal cruelty seems to be a way of life today but what i don't understand is where the heck are these kids getting lethal cross bows? Surely they are lethal weapons?

We are seeing more and more animals targeted with cross bows in this country especially wildfowl yet i've not read of one prosecution. Surely some-one is selling these kids these things?

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:17 am

Using a cross bow on cats and other small animals is excellent practice for those sportsman that wish to move on to larger animals, so much better than stationary targets. The cross bow is so much more of a challenge than a small rifle or air gun, although some sportsman claim that sling shots are even more of a challenge and require much more skill.

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:18 am

Lon;1207792 wrote: Using a cross bow on cats and other small animals is excellent practice for those sportsman that wish to move on to larger animals, so much better than stationary targets. The cross bow is so much more of a challenge than a small rifle or air gun, although some sportsman claim that sling shots are even more of a challenge and require much more skill. These are kids using them Lon and it sounds as it they are using them un-supervised. Is that wise?

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:50 am

Maybe the kids are Sportsman in the making.

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:11 am

This is truly an awful story and sickens me. I wonder if the police found out who shot this cat and were they punished.

Simply awful....can't even imagine how much that poor animal suffered.

I wonder if it would have been better to put the poor animal down instead of living for 8 days? Did the vets think that they could save him

Do you have a more indepth link to this story? Thanks

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:12 am

Lon;1207813 wrote: Maybe the kids are Sportsman in the making.

Maybe the thugs are a$$holes

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:34 am

Kathy Ellen;1207826 wrote: This is truly an awful story and sickens me. I wonder if the police found out who shot this cat and were they punished.

Simply awful....can't even imagine how much that poor animal suffered.

I wonder if it would have been better to put the poor animal down instead of living for 8 days? Did the vets think that they could save him

Do you have a more indepth link to this story? Thanks Here you go Kathy and hats off to the RSPCA for meeting the owners vets fee.

A plucky cat survived for more than a week with a 14-inch crossbow bolt through its body after it was shot by a sick thug.

The projectile missed tortoiseshell Dave's heart by less than an inch when it struck his neck, went through his chest cavity and came out the other side.

To make matters worse, the 11-month-old tomcat took eight days to find his way home to shocked owners Andrew and Juliet Childerhouse in the Norfolk village of Terrington St Clement.

Enlarge Miraculously the bolt failed to pierce Dave's vital organs and arteries

He was first spotted by their their distraught daughters Hannah, 12, and eight-year-old Phoebe, and the wounded feline was rushed to a vet to have the bolt removed.

Dave is now recovering after five days in intensive care.

Mr Childerhouse, 48, today hit out at the 'barbaric' thug who targeted the cat. He said: 'This defies understanding of people's minds. It is absolutely horrific.

'He was shot from very close range, probably about six foot. Dave is a very friendly cat so someone probably got very close and then let him have it.'

He added: 'It's sickening - who would do this to a cat?'

Dave went missing on June 2 and the family gave up hope of finding him as the week went by.

But eight days later Hannah heard his bell outside and ran out to find him limping along with the crossbow bolt through his body.

Enlarge Near miss: An X-ray shows how the crossbow bolt passed through the cat's chest cavity

Mrs Childerhouse, 46, said: 'Hannah was having her breakfast and said she could hear Dave.

'I looked out of the living room window and saw him with what looked like a play dart.

'Hannah was screaming constantly - she could not go to school.'

She added: 'The police think it was someone riding past who shot him, but in our view it was a clean shot at close range.'

Mr Childerhouse, a sign maker, said: 'The girls were hysterical. But Dave could still walk around and looked comfortable. There was no blood showing from the wound.

'He was starving and very smelly from where he had been lying in his own mess.'

Sarah Colegrove, who removed the bolt at Mill House Veterinary Surgery in King's Lynn, said Dave was lucky to have survived.

The blunt tip of the projectile pushed his vital organs and arteries aside rather than puncturing them, she said.

'We took an x-ray and it showed the arrow was going right through his thoracic cavity,' the vet said.

'One of the main problems was infection. As the arrow went in it pushed a lot of hairs and rubbish from the skin into the chest.

'The arrow came out fairly easily but it looked as if the skin was trying to heal around it so it must have been there for several days.

'Dave is the most amazing little cat. He is on strong antibiotics now and we are keeping our fingers crossed he comes out of this okay.'

The RSPCA will meet some of the £800 cost of Dave's veterinary treatment

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:35 am

Lon;1207813 wrote: Maybe the kids are Sportsman in the making. When you dangle a worm big enough, i may bite but tiddlers don't interest me.

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:35 am

Nowhere in that article do I see it implied that it was "Kids" that shot the cat.

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:37 am

abbey;1207835 wrote: Nowhere in that article do I see it implied that it was "Kids" that shot the cat. No, very true..... previous stories on the geese who were shot by crossbow were kids. Adult or kid, i just find it astonishing that folk have access to them.

hoppy · Post by **hoppy** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:40 am

I've lived in neighborhoods where there were no songbirds until some enterprising individual with a quiet air rifle thinned out the many stray cats.

Yeah, I could have live trapped them but our animal shelter at that time, left a lot to be desired.

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:22 pm

Oh, thank you very much for printing the full story Oscar. I was on my laptop before instead of my desktop and didn't have the full story. I thought that the cat died and didn't know the poor animal made his way home after all those day.

Geeze, stories like this make me cry and amaze me. How do these animals know their way home???? What instincts they must have. I must look into that question....

What a survivor Dave is.....Thanks for sharing this story:-6

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:24 pm

oscar;1207834 wrote: When you dangle a worm big enough, i may bite but tiddlers don't interest me.

:yh_rotfl Lon's always the pot stirrer, isn't he:rolleyes:

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:56 pm

Kathy Ellen;1207869 wrote: Oh, thank you very much for printing the full story Oscar. I was on my laptop before instead of my desktop and didn't have the full story. I thought that the cat died and didn't know the poor animal made his way home after all those day.

Geeze, stories like this make me cry and amaze me. How do these animals know their way home???? What instincts they must have. I must look into that question....

What a survivor Dave is.....Thanks for sharing this story:-6 Thankyou Kathy and it goes to show the wonderful work the RSPCA do again.

It is indeed interesting as i know of many stories where cats have tried to get home. There will always be a riddle as to what happened to my cat after he died. Living in a narrow lane, we rarely get cars yet my cat was found by Pete in the middle of the field outside my house with a hole in the top of his head. To cut a very long story short, we have a good idea what happened to him but cars don't dump cats bodies in the middle of a field. As you know, we have many foxes come every night and even mingle with cats while eating. When we had a private autopsy on our cat, (two actually) they gave us the most likely scenario but we were all puzzled by paw marks on his face. The injury on the top of his head would have killed him outright so we will always wonder if the foxes tried to revive him. I like to think so. :-1

hoppy · Post by **hoppy** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:50 pm

oscar;1207837 wrote: No, very true..... previous stories on the geese who were shot by crossbow were kids. Adult or kid, i just find it astonishing that folk have access to them.

Any kid with some school shop class experience and a few hand tools can make a bow or crossbow, fer crissakes.

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:52 pm

oscar;1207881 wrote: Thankyou Kathy and it goes to show the wonderful work the RSPCA do again.

It is indeed interesting as i know of many stories where cats have tried to get home. There will always be a riddle as to what happened to my cat after he died. Living in a narrow lane, we rarely get cars yet my cat was found by Pete in the middle of the field outside my house with a hole in the top of his head. To cut a very long story short, we have a good idea what happened to him but cars don't dump cats bodies in the middle of a field. As you know, we have many foxes come every night and even mingle with cats while eating. When we had a private autopsy on our cat, (two actually) they gave us the most likely scenario but we were all puzzled by paw marks on his face. The injury on the top of his head would have killed him outright so we will always wonder if the foxes tried to revive him. I like to think so. :-1

Thank you Oscar, That's a very endearing story. It would be lovely to think that the fox would try to revive him;) hmmmmm. but wonder how the hole in the top of his head got there:-5 .....maybe another a$$hole I'm sure:rolleyes:

I live 2 miles north of a lovely 10 mile natural reserve that has lots of fox. The rangers have asked everyone and posted signs not to feed the fox. Since this is a natural reserve, there is a ton of food for the foxes.

It's wonderful that you're feeding the foxes since their habitat is gone. But here they have a lovely habitat and lots of places to hide and survive.

Of course though, many people think it's fun to feed the fox and seagulls and make pests out of them. The foxes are so used to being fed that they sit in the middle of the road and beg for food. Unfortunately, many are getting killed.

If you're caught now feeding the fox, you're warned and then fined.

I live between a large bay and the ocean...so why do people feed the seagulls when they have tons of food available from the bay and ocean,and make pests of them. The gulls tear our garbage apart and constantly beg for food...I wish these people would get their jollies elsewhere:rolleyes:

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:12 pm

Kathy Ellen;1207917 wrote: Thank you Oscar, That's a very endearing story. It would be lovely to think that the fox would try to revive him;) hmmmmm. but wonder how the hole in the top of his head got there:-5 .....maybe another a$$hole I'm sure:rolleyes:

I live 2 miles north of a lovely 10 mile natural reserve that has lots of fox. The rangers have asked everyone and posted signs not to feed the fox. Since this is a natural reserve, there is a ton of food for the foxes.

It's wonderful that you're feeding the foxes since their habitat is gone. But here they have a lovely habitat and lots of places to hide and survive.

Of course though, many people think it's fun to feed the fox and seagulls and make pests out of them. The foxes are so used to being fed that they sit in the middle of the road and beg for food. Unfortunately, many are getting killed.

If you're caught now feeding the fox, you're warned and then fined.

I live between a large bay and the ocean...so why do people feed the seagulls when they have tons of food available from the bay and ocean,and make pests of them. The gulls tear our garbage apart and constantly beg for food...I wish these people would get their jollies elsewhere:rolleyes: I agree that in natural habitate, it's foolish to feed them. As you know from my posts before, my foxes have been driven down into to the school grounds next to my house due to mass building and another 12,000 houses are proposed by the year 2012. There is a large landfill site on the main road and it's there that many get killed. We have never tried to make pets of ours and we always put the food on the ground and not hand fed them. They still have their instincts as the slightest smell of a stranger or unusual sound and they bolt for cover. Having said that, a newbie seems to have joined the pack very recently. She's too old to be one of my cubs but very very young. I'm guessing she has been orphaned at around a few months old and has joined the pack. She has only been coming now for a about three weeks and she's trying to become too tame. The regular pack have been coming for years. The average lifespan of an urban fox is sadly, approx two years as they get hunted, shot and killed on roads. I like to think that my pack has a happy extended life by not having to cross the main road to look for foos each night. I'm going to buy a new cam recorder and hopefully get them on video and posted here.

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:22 pm

oscar;1207943 wrote: I agree that in natural habitate, it's foolish to feed them. As you know from my posts before, my foxes have been driven down into to the school grounds next to my house due to mass building and another 12,000 houses are proposed by the year 2012. There is a large landfill site on the main road and it's there that many get killed. We have never tried to make pets of ours and we always put the food on the ground and not hand fed them. They still have their instincts as the slightest smell of a stranger or unusual sound and they bolt for cover. Having said that, a newbie seems to have joined the pack very recently. She's too old to be one of my cubs but very very young. I'm guessing she has been orphaned at around a few months old and has joined the pack. She has only been coming now for a about three weeks and she's trying to become too tame. The regular pack have been coming for years. The average lifespan of an urban fox is sadly, approx two years as they get hunted, shot and killed on roads. I like to think that my pack has a happy extended life by not having to cross the main road to look for foos each night. I'm going to buy a new cam recorder and hopefully get them on video and posted here.

Oh I know that Oscar, that's why I said that it's great that you're feeding them. They would probably die if you didn't feed them. Videotaping them would be lovely. I love the pics you posted of them....they're gorgeous....thank you

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:41 pm

Kathy Ellen;1207966 wrote: Oh I know that Oscar, that's why I said that it's great that you're feeding them. They would probably die if you didn't feed them. Videotaping them would be lovely. I love the pics you posted of them....they're gorgeous....thank you Thankyou..... it's impossible to photograph them at times. It's so dark out there with no street lighting so i take a large flashlight in one hand and a tray of their food in the other. Very often, they will pick up a chicken quarter and run off with it so the whole feeding process can take just a few seconds. If Pete comes out with me, they back off quite a distance and won't come to the food until he's gone inside, so he can't hold the camera either. I have got cctv camera's on the house but not on the area they feed. A cam recorder is the best bet if i can figure out a way to do it.

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:06 pm

hoppy;1207841 wrote: I've lived in neighborhoods where there were no songbirds until some enterprising individual with a quiet air rifle thinned out the many stray cats.

Yeah, I could have live trapped them but our animal shelter at that time, left a lot to be desired.

I'd like to shoot that individual.:-5:-5

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:23 am

Scrat;1208730 wrote: Well Lon can have his way. Cats make great practice but lets be fair about this. If this (these) sportsperson (s) can take a shot at some little girls puddy tat I say the little girls get a shot at the perps.

Fair is fair.

Great idea Scrat. In this country we do have a feral cat problem with large colonies. I don't have a problem with them but the authorities i believe still euthenise them humanely. There are some small charities that will go out and trap the cats, neuter them and then release them back into the wild. With pets i feel it is far worse to do this sort of thing. As you quite rightly said, that's some little girls much loved pet. My cat was killed by thugs and i was surprised that the police took it very seriously. They knew the one who did it but had no proof to bring a prosecution. I was worried for my other pets and i sent a message of a threat of physical violence via the Police Beat manager who kindly gave him my message. It seemed to work.