Sep 28, 2006

Feline shooting rattles cat owners

By Mark Abramson

One Palo Alto company's adoptive house cat was shot over the weekend and another has been missing since mid-September, which has their owners wondering who is responsible.

The cat that was shot, named Buddy, was found by its owner, Rick Bentley, huddling under a bush Saturday. Bentley, who opened a video surveillance company on Embarcadero Way and adopted the cat for the office, said he thinks Buddy was shot with a pellet gun last week.

Bentley rigged a surveillance camera near Buddy's cat door, which records his comings and goings, and the last time Buddy was recorded leaving was Thursday night.

Although Bentley saw Buddy limping, he did not realize the cat had been shot until he took him to an emergency veterinary clinic Sunday.

"As soon as the vet saw the X-rays, the doctor said, 'It's a gunshot, he's been shot,'" Bentley said. "My opinion here is someone has been coming out here with an air rifle and shooting cats."

The shot to Buddy's right rear leg required surgery at Adobe Animal Hospital in Los Altos Monday. Buddy will be confined to a box-like cage for about two months while he heals. The cat had pins inserted in its wounded leg.

"We don't see a lot of gunshots," said veterinarian Dave Roos, Buddy's surgeon.

Police said Buddy was shot with either a .22-caliber firearm or an air weapon based on the size of the round and the injuries to the cat. Anyone apprehended for shooting Buddy could be charged with animal cruelty and face jail time, said Palo Alto police Sgt. Sandra Brown.

Bentley said he plans to stay by his pet's side and sleep on a futon in the office until Buddy gets back on his paws.

The attack on Buddy came just two weeks after owners of another Palo Alto business noticed their cat and mascot was missing. That cat, named Buster, has been missing from the Shoreline Flying Club since about mid-September.

"Everybody fell in love with him and he has never been gone this long," said Gordon Matthews, co-owner of the Shoreline Flying Club. "He is gone, and we're afraid he's dead."

Matthews described Buster as Shoreline's affectionate mascot. He said he trained the cat to roll over and sit like a dog, and almost all of the club's 450 members have felt the loss.

Brown said the attack on Buddy appears to be an isolated incident and that someone hired to control the red fox and skunk population in the area had nothing to do with the shooting. The Police Department does not take missing cat reports and that would be hard to do because most felines come and go, she said.

"If we got 10 missing cats in the same area, I would be a little concerned," Brown said.

E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.