Local police investigate shootings of stray cats
ASHLAND, Ohio (WJW) — Ashland police are investigating the shooting of a stray cat that was found dead on a woman's porch last week.
Other stray cats in the area appear to have suffered similar injuries, said the woman, who told police she keeps food, water and warm shelter out for the stray cats in her neighborhood, according to a police report.
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It's believed to have happened near the intersection of Elmarna and Westview avenues, according to the Humane Society of Ashland County.
The woman came to the police department on Monday afternoon to report she had found a gray-and-white stray cat dead on her porch, apparently shot in the head.
She told police she first noticed the cat on her porch on Friday, Jan. 24, through security cameras she uses to keep tabs on the cats using her heated outdoor shelter.
The next morning, the cat returned with 'a wound above its left eye,' reads the report. She later saw the cat lying down on the porch — but it never got back up.
She took the cat's body to a veterinary clinic, where workers determined the cat had been shot in the head and abdomen, according to the report.
A clinic X-ray provided to police showed a 'cone-shaped, cylindrical object' in the cat's torso — the same shape as a pellet gun projectile, an officer noted in the report.
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The woman also told police she's seen two other cats with similar injuries to their necks.
'Reminder that is a felony offense to shoot any companion animal,' humane society workers wrote on Facebook.
The Ohio Supreme Court in October expanded the definition of companion animal under state animal cruelty laws to include stray dogs and cats.
The investigation is ongoing.
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