Rexdale cat impaled by two-foot arrow.
Pebbles, a 10-year-old cat who lives in the Islington Avenue and Elmhurst Drive area, was shot with an arrow March 6 and had to undergo extensive surgery. His owners are furious and are warning their neighbours to keep their pets close.
Courtesy photo
A Rexdale cat lover is warning neighbours to keep a tight leash on their outdoor pets after her 10-year-old cat Pebbles came home impaled by a two-foot barbed arrow over the weekend.
"I let him out Saturday night for a bit of a run, and he came back about 20 minutes later with an arrow sticking out of his side," said Pebbles' owner Olimpia Anderson, an Islington Avenue and Elmhurst Drive area resident. "I was shocked."
Anderson said she and her husband immediately called 911 to report the crime, then drove their injured cat (with the arrow still sticking out of him) to the Willowdale Animal Hospital, a 24-hour veterinary clinic on Sheppard Avenue West, at around 10:30 p.m.
"It's costing a fortune - in the thousands - but he's doing better," Anderson said of Pebbles' recovery from extensive internal injuries. "The vet called him a trooper."
Referring to the attack as "very shocking," Dr. Patricia Lee, the veterinarian treating Pebbles, said the arrow that struck him travelled all the way through Pebbles' abdomen, causing significant damage to his intestinal tract.
"The arrow punctured three areas of the intestine, requiring quite extensive surgery," she said of Pebbles' treatment. "It's amazing he was able to walk home with the arrow sticking out of him."
Now heavily medicated with a combination of pain killers and strong antibiotics, Pebbles is expected to return home by this weekend, where Lee said she's hopeful he'll make a full recovery.
After the arrow was extracted from Pebbles during surgery, it was then handed off to 23 Division detectives for fingerprinting.
Det. Sgt. Les Stasiak said Tuesday morning that testing of the arrow, however, failed to bring up any new leads in their investigation - the second of its kind that 23 Division has been faced with in less than seven months.
In August 2009, 23 Division officers investigated a similar case, in which a tabby cat later nicknamed 'Arrow' was found roaming the Hwy. 427 and Rexdale Boulevard area with a 46-cm crossbow arrow piercing his chest. The unclaimed cat recovered from his injuries and was put up for adoption a short while later, but no arrests were made in the case.
Stasiak said on Tuesday that the cases, although similar in nature, were unlikely linked, given the time and distance separating the two attacks and that the arrow involved in this latest case was of a different type than the crossbow arrow used in the August attack.
Still, Anderson said she remains concerned for pets in her neighbourhood, not knowing who it was who shot her cat - or why.
"We went out looking for fresh tracks in the snow, but couldn't find anything," she said. "Our house backs onto a ravine, so it's almost impossible to tell where (the shooter) might have been."
Anderson and her family have now launched a campaign to let as many area residents know of the potential risk to their pets as possible. They've begun distributing flyers to neighbours about their ordeal, and the response they've been getting is one of disbelief, she said.
"We've lived in this area for 25 years. Most of our neighbours are the same - they know us and they know our cat," she said. "They were horrified."
Stasiak cautioned residents to always keep an eye on their pets, especially cats: "People sometimes like to let them wander, but I'd suggest keeping them inside."