This story is all over the internet; but if you have not yet read about it, or seen the videos, here is what happened.
A beautiful ornage and white tomcat was shot and killed by a veterinarian using a bow and arrow. She apparently (for some unknown reason) thought that the cat was a feral cat, so she shot it in the head with her bow and arrow. Then (proud of her kill) she took a picture and posted it on Facebook, bragging about her self.
Even had this actually been a feral cat, this is a terrible thing; but the cat actually belonged to some older people who lived nearby and loved their cat dearly. They even have a video of the cat riding on the front of their "Gator" ATV while the lady is going to the barn to feed their cows.
Thankfully, the woman has been fired from the vet clinic where she worked, and will likely face prosecution for what she did.
Even if she is not prosecuted for this, she will have a very hard time being hired anywhere after killing the cat so ruthlessly; so all of her years at school learning to become a veterinarian are probably wasted.
I know that I would not want my pet's life in this woman's hands.
Goodness me...I can't believe someone would just take a bow and arrow to an animal like that! Particularly a veterinarian...what is the world coming to? I feel the same way as you, I absolutely wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my pets health and safety up to this woman.
I honestly do feel she should be prosecuted in some way. It's cruelty to animals, plain and simple, right? Surely it would come under some legislation like that. I know here if someone was to do something like that, they would either get a massive fine or some sort of jail or community service time. I don't think the fact that she is trained as a vet and thought it was a feral cat should give her a get out of jail free card, for lack of a better term. And anyway, is that seriously the normal way of dealing with a feral cat population? It sounds a bit archaic and barbaric to me!
To address your last question first; no, this is NOT how feral cats are usually dealt with. Many places have people who actually care for the feral cats, and put out food for them, and if they catch them, then they are neutered so they don't create more feral kittens.
There is a lot of outrage about this woman killing the cat in such an inhumane manner (or killing the cat at all), and it is likely that she will face charges for doing it. The fact that it was a neighbor's cat may or may not make a difference, and might be hard to prove that she actually killed their cat since orange and white are very common colors for a tomcat.
I think that the worst punishment that she will have is one that she has caused for herself. She has destroyed her whole career, probably her whole life, and also that of her parents and family.
Since the picture was taken by her mother, people are trying to have her fired from her job, as well.
This whole family may have to move out of the area, and try to find a place where no one would regognise them.
This will probably be much worse than the fine that she will get for killing the cat.
The police are also investigating her now. I'm glad there will hopefully be some justice for the poor cat and the cat's owners too. The picture of her in the article above just astounds me, she looks so proud of herself. I don't understand humans sometimes, honestly...
I too saw this story on Facebook. I am absolutely disgusted by this. How could someone who is supposed to care for animals do something like this? It's so wrong. She didn't take a moment to consider that this animal for one thing, was not a danger to anyone, and could be someone's pet, which he was!!!
I am not opposed to hunting with a bow or a gun, there is no place for using these things in the city, even if you are dealing with a pest and certainly not when the animal is of a kind that could possibly be a pet that someone will be missing when they don't come home.
I hope this woman loses her veterinary license and is never hired to work with animals in any way again. Her reputation is toast at this point, so it's not likely anyone would hire her anytime soon. She might even have a hard time finding a job anywhere doing anything at this point.
Cats do not understand boundaries and fences are obstacles to be surmounted, so the idea that the cat was in her yard is no defense, in my opinion. When I moved to the house that I am in now, one of the first things I did was ask my neighbors on both sides of me whether they would be bothered if my cats came into their yard from time to time, explaining that cats don't understand boundaries. They had no problem with it, and one of my cats sometimes made an all-nighter out of lying under a boat that one of my neighbors had in his back yard. Maybe she did understand boundaries and fences well enough to know that I'd be unlikely to come get her as long as she was on that side of the fence.
Whatever reasons she might give, the fact that this animal (meaning the veterinarian, not the cat) was so proud of her kill showed that she saw killing cats with a bow and arrow as a sport, and that is not the sort of person I'd want caring for any of my cats. Although I do not hunt, I am not opposed to hunting wild game animals, but there is no sport in killing a cat who, as a pet, perhaps had no reason to believe that it was in danger.
