Cat shot with pellet gun in Trichardt
The family said they were not sure how long the pellet was in Mickey’s head because the wound was closing up. They also suspect that Mickey may have been shot at close range.
TRICHARDT – Mickey the cat recently survived a pellet gunshot to the temple and his family now wants to warn local residents of what could be a possible “hit” on animals, mainly cats, in the area.
Ms Laura Wilding who resides in Richter Street took to social media to raise their anger when she and her family had found that their cat, Mickey, was shot with a pellet gun.
“My mom, Ms Chantelle van der Merwe, told me there was something in Mickey’s head. At first we thought it was a wasp that made a nest with the way it was buried and the way it looked. Eventually we used tweezers and pulled out the object. To our horror, we saw it was a led pellet,” said Ms Wilding.
The family said they were not sure how long the pellet was lodged in Mickey’s head, because the wound was closing up. They also suspect that Mickey might have been shot at close range.
“You don’t go around shooting animals because you are trigger happy. They are defenceless animals that cannot talk for them self,” said Ms Wilding.
Ms Wilding said that this is the first time they have ever had any such problem in the area, however they have seen an increase of cats being dumped in the field near their home.
The family have four cats that were adopted from local organisations and three feral cats that have made themselves at home.
With this being mating season, many cats would be roaming as to find their mate. This in return irritates humans because of the loud calls, setting off alarms, and roaming in people’s gardens that are not animal persons.
The family do not however, think this could have been the issue as all their cats have been spayed and they normally do not roam far from home and are locked inside the house in the evenings.
“My cat could have died!” exclaimed Ms Wilding.
The Ridge Times spoke to Ms Nicolette van Zyl of Feral Watch and TNR. She said it seems that people classified all cats roaming, as owned cats.
“These are cats that have owners, who have a home, a bed, and bowls of food, love and attention. Yes, a lot of owned and cared for cats roam, a lot of owners do allow them and rarely know what these roaming cats are doing. By saying that, I must add that cats as any animal, do not understand that humans have set rules and why there are such rules. Remember, they have not your intelligence and no understanding that your rules apply. A bird is a bird they do not distinguish between a budgie and a wild pigeon,” said Ms Van Zyl.
She went on saying that cats are deemed free roaming animals, but their owners need to know there are dangers out there, dogs, cars, pellet guns, snares, other cats infected with feline leukaemia and feline immunodeficiency virus, and they should protect their pets.
In terms of Section 2(1) (s) of the Animal Protection Act of 1962, any person who kills an animal in contravention of a prohibition in terms of a notice published in the Gazette is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 12 months.
In terms of the Firearms Control Act of 2000, it is not a requirement to possess a firearm licence for a person to own a pellet gun. However, a pellet gun is regarded as a firearm in terms of the definition section of this Act. Thus anyone who uses a pellet gun to commit a crime may be charged for possession of a firearm replica to induce fear. It is an offence to discharge a pellet gun in a residential area since it jeopardises the safety of an innocent person.
