A stray cat is recovering after being shot by a police officer for suspicion of rabies, The Portland Press Herald reported September 4. Is this an overreaction or a sensible precaution? Similar events have happened before. Also see: police killing cats.
Clark (named after Clark Kent, Superman’s alter ego) was shot August 20 by a Gorham (Maine) Police officer after he was suspected of having rabies. Clark had bitten or scratched a 7-year-old girl on Maple Ridge Road. The girl’s father reported the cat walked with a limp, and he “believed” Clark was rabid.
Clark didn’t like being captured, and allegedly attempted to bite an animal control officer during an unsuccessful attempt to trap him. Clark was shot by Gorham Police with a 16-gauze shotgun, after the decision was made between the officer and animal control that the best way to stop the threat of rabies was to kill the cat. Clark disappeared into the woods.
A thorough search was conducted, with no sign of the injured cat. Each day of searching showed no sign of the injured cat. The police officer who shot Clark thought he’d missed his target. Four days later, Clark was captured when he showed up in the yard of Debbie Webb, who had been feeding the cat for three years.
According to Dr. Sheila Pinette, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, state law requires the capture of a suspected rabid animal. Once caught, the animal must be taken to a vet or animal shelter for observation.
Now recovering at a Westbrook shelter, Clark has been declared rabies free. Everyone is hoping he can recovere from the injuries without surgery. The pellets shattered one bone in each of his front paws. The police department is paying for treatment, and an orthopedic surgeon is monitoring Clark. So far the cat is adjusting well to living indoors.
The vet believes Clark to be between 5 and 8 years old, and describe the friendly cat as a “love bug.”
Lt. Chris Sanborn said the police officer and the animal control officer remain on active duty, pending an investigation. Their names aren’t being released at this time. Sanborn says his officers followed state protocol in their attempt to trap a possibly rabid cat. He said he wasn’t sure what the protocol is when the cat can’t be captured.
Jeana Roth, community relations manager for the shelter stated
“This is not a typical way for a cat to be brought to us. We never want to see a situation like this again.”
Humane Society of the United States senior law enforcement officer Eric Sakach, said he has never in his 38-year career heard of a situation in which a police officer shot a domestic cat suspected of having rabies.
Debbie is concerned about her stray kitty, and finds it difficult to believe police would hunt down and shoot such a sweet cat in a yard where he felt safe. When hearing Clark had been shot then captured, she was terrified he would be euthanized.
Rabies is rare in Maine. There have only been eight confirmed cases in cats since January 2010. Residents are cautioned against feeding stray animals of any kind.
No word yet on whether Debbie will officially adopt Clark and turn him into an inside cat, but we can all hope she cares enough to do that for this sweet boy.
Poor cat! Did the officer & animal control try a net or drop trap? Way for them to prevent the spread of rabies, shoot an allegedly rabid cat so he can go die in the woods, other animals can feast on his carcass, & the can all get rabies too! The protocol is to get post-exposure rabies vaccines & quarantine the animal when rabies is suspected. Shooting him was inhumane & now he lives w/ a broken legs & pain. I hope the police & animal control officers lose their jobs. The kid got bit by an unvaccinated cat, scary, yes, but what kind of example are we setting for our children when officers are constantly shooting & killing domestic pets???
Well all this brings to mind a recent thing that was newsworthy, as a home owner who owned a dog, that was callously murdered by a police officer who was out looking for a lost child. He opened the fence to this man’s back yard and entered. He encountered the home owners dog which by the way was a good distance from the officer, and without any regard whatsoever, took his hand gun and killed this dog and just more or less left it laying out in the back yard. Didn’t have the courage to wait around till the owner arrives home. He left in a hurry. The home owner was notified and the man arrived home to a scene that would mortify any one of us who loves our fur friend. The homeowner was filming it all. Just brutality at its worse. For those who did not see this video allow me to add this link to view this blatant disregard for an animals life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCNNiRfQiTg
Indeed they are “heavy fingered” as you so accurately say. The child probably mishandled the cat who is described as a “love bug” by the veterinarian. The child’s father kicked it all off by saying he thought the cat was rabid. Bloody madness, I think.
This comes as no surprise as it is no secret!! All across this nation the police are heavy fingered when it comes to pulling triggers and shooting to kill and then ask questions later! It’s a problem that is out of hand across this nation and i want to know where the outrage is?!??! Insane!!! I doubt very little will be done since the people are not willing to raise their healthy voices in defense of animals (even their own) so i don’t look for too much to change.
The rabies issue is a major problem. It is almost as if the mentality is “shot first think later”. I don’t like it. We never have police shooting cats in the UK or in Europe.
These stories where police shoot pets are what I’ve become known for, unfortunately. Check out this page for about 300 other cases, including a few I did for PoC when an animal control officer shot kittens in Ohio last summer. http://www.furbyshouse.com/Dogs-Shot-By-Police.html