Shots fired at tomcat

Leo lay dead in his basket two days after surgery

The young four-legged friend did not survive the attack.

(Bild: ZVG)

Grief and horror among Dornbirn family after cowardly attack on little furry friend. City police are still searching for the perpetrator, who shot the defenceless animal at least once with a BB gun, seriously injuring it.

The owners of tomcat "Leo" are very sad. Unknown animal abusers shot at the one-year-old animal with a BB gun in the center of Dornbirn on Sunday. The four-legged friend dragged himself into a driveway on Dornbirn's Marktstraße, badly injured. "Our neighbor found the cat there and immediately took him to the vet in Lustenau. At first we assumed that someone had hit our 'Leo' because his hind legs were completely shattered," reports the mother of the little girl who owned the cat.

It was only at the vet that it turned out that the furry friend had not been hit by a car. On the contrary: the police assume that "Leo" had been shot at with a BB gun.

Severe injuries to the hind legs
As no one heard a loud bang, it was probably a quieter air rifle. The projectiles also caused major damage. The extent of the injury to the young cat was revealed during the operation. "The vet wanted to attach a plate with screws, but there were no bones left to which the screws could have been attached," say the owners.

Nevertheless, the operation on the hind legs was successful. The young owner was even allowed to take the animal home with her so that it could recover from the difficult operation in familiar surroundings. The little cat survived the first night, but after the second, he lay dead in his basket.

A neighbor had brought the little tomcat Leo to the vet, who initially operated on the four-legged friend successfully.

(Bild: ZVG)

"Our daughter is of course heartbroken. And she still believes that 'Leo' was accidentally hit by a driver." The parents are not yet willing to confide in the little girl that it was an animal murderer who deliberately seriously injured and killed "Leo".

However, it would be in their interest for the perpetrator to be caught. After all, he had shot in broad daylight in the middle of the city and near a kindergarten.