HOLDEN, La. (BRPROUD) — The Humane Society of Louisiana is offering a $600 reward to find the person responsible for shooting a cat in the head.
The animal rights organization said reports from the last six months are showing a dramatic increase in violent acts toward animals, mirroring the increase in crime in the state and country. HSLA Director Jeff Dorson said they are receiving reports daily of animals being abandoned, stolen, shot, tossed out of moving vehicles, and beaten.
HSLA said one of the most recent cases of violence against animals was the discovery of a gray domestic short-haired cat shot in the head and left in the roadway near Hopkins Road in Holden on Friday, July 22. It is believed that the cat was part of a colony living in the area.
“It was very hard to find a cat like that,” said Eva Blondell, who has been feeding cats in the area for a long time. “It was a very sweet and loving cat. No animal deserves to be treated like this, and we are concerned for all the other cats that live in the neighborhood.”
Dorson said when there’s an abundance of stray cats or dogs, people are less tolerant and more likely to be aggressive.
“If a stray dog gets in someone’s trash can or a cat walks on a person’s car, which may irritate the homeowner and car owner, a lot more people, it seems, are resorting to shooting, poisoning, or injuring these creatures, especially if there is no agency to call to pick up and house the animals,” said Dorson.
The level of violence against animals in Livingston Parish will continue and worsen, according to HSLA, as the parish does not have a fully-funded animal control department. Dorson said reports of strays being killed or wounded in the parish are routine.
Anyone with information about the cat shot to death in Holden is urged to contact the Humane Society at 1-88-6-486-263.
