“We just got home from Maryland and we walked into our apartment and saw a bullet hole in our ceiling. Dropped our bags and grabbed my phone to call the police and saw that there was blood all over our apartment. Everywhere. The counters, tables, carpet everything. We found our baby Bowie was hit by the bullet, but he was still alive” – Bowie’s owners
This is a follow-up story from the one written by Elisa about the domestic cat (Bowie) who was shot while he waited for his human companions to come home (the link opens a new tab). In an apartment above there was a party and a stupid man, 25-year-old Aren Floryanzia, discharged a firearm into the floor (we don’t know why) which resulted in the bullet passing through the floor and through this unfortunate cat. The wound ultimately killed him. The owners of the cat paid $4000 in veterinary bills for surgery which failed to save him.
The man who discharged the firearm was arrested and has been charged with damage to property and a weapons offence. I would hope that the charge also relates to the fatal injuring of this cat. What I mean is the damage to property includes both the ceiling, the floor and the cat.
More importantly, as the owners have paid $4000 in veterinary bills, they need to recover that money and they need compensation for the emotional distress that they are suffering on the loss of their beloved cat.
They have a wonderful case in negligence in the small claims court in America. This is a clear case of negligence by the man who shot this cat. He is bound to be convicted of the crimes with which he is charged as the evidence is overwhelming. They can use that in a claim for compensation against him which must surely succeed. The damages would cover the veterinary bill and if the judge is enlightened and so inclined he will also grant some damages for their emotional distress.
Sadly, under the law, the value of a random bred cat is not worth much, say about $50. The damages should, but probably won’t, cover family’s emotional distress but would certainly cover the vet’s bill.
Please sue this idiot and make him pay financially as well as being punished by the state. I’d expect his punishment to be light because the offences are minor. The loss to the family of their cat is out of proportion to the offences committed.
