A North Vancouver man is warning his neighbours to watch out for their pets after his cat was brutally attacked and killed last week.
"It's just sadistic. We were absolutely devastated by it," said Martin Wouters, while describing what happened to his six-year-old Bombay cat Jet Li, a.k.a. Jetty, on Aug. 8.
Wouters, who lives on East Third Street and St. Patrick's Avenue, had let out Jetty for a morning walk as usual, but
instead of returning home to spend the day inside, the cat disappeared.
After getting home from work that evening, Wouters retired to a lawn chair in his front yard. That's when he spotted Jetty walking towards him.
"I knew something was wrong when he was coming up. He was really dirty and he sat down and when I tried to pick him up, he was in excruciating pain," said Wouters.
He immediately took the animal to a vet, who determined via X-rays that Jetty had been shot in the leg with a pellet gun. But what was even worse was the vet's assessment that Jetty had been repeatedly kicked, causing serious internal injuries.
Wouters was instructed to take his pet home and bring him back the next morning to have the pellet removed. But overnight, things took a turn for the worst.
"At about 4: 30 in the morning, he started to pant and get in really bad shape and I was trying to rush him to the pet emergency in Vancouver," said Wouters.
"I got about three-quarters of the way there and he was on my lap and he passed away.
"It was freaking devastating. I pulled over and I just bawled."
Wouters reported the incident to police, but was told that there's not enough information to launch an investigation. His report will be kept on file in case a similar attack occurs in the area.
For now, Wouters said he wants the public to be aware that this type of crime can happen unprovoked.
"We just moved here from Panorama Drive in Deep Cove, so there's nobody that doesn't like us or would ever want to do something like that to our family," he explained.
"I think it was just random, something somebody thought they could get off on doing."
