Alastair Jenkins said his daughter was too scared to let out her two cats after his adopted cat was killed. Photo / James Pocock
Alastair Jenkins said his daughter was too scared to let out her two cats after his adopted cat was killed. Photo / James Pocock
A Gisborne family have been left fearing for the safety of themselves and their pets after their cat was shot dead.
Police say they are investigating, but no one has been charged.
Alastair Jenkins had stepped outside his house bus on Sunday evening when he noticed his adopted cat Tickerlying still near his food bowl after not having seen him for 90 minutes.
“I gave him a little nudge with my foot, and no movement. I gave him another one and then went to pick him up and realised he was dead.”
He thought Ticker may have accidentally been poisoned by eating some glue left nearby while Jenkins worked on the house bus.
However, he noticed blood and what appeared to be bullet entry and exit wounds.
Jenkins said they did not hear anything like a gunshot, but he believed the incident had to have happened nearby as Ticker made it to his home on Valley Rd.
Jenkins believed the wound was too big to be a slug gun and guessed something like a .22 rifle had been used. He had not found a bullet or shell.
“My daughter has cats, too, and she is too scared to let them out. We’re worried, too. If this person is going to kill our cat, what else are [they] capable of?”
Jenkins said they adopted Ticker about six months ago after they found him on their property.
“He had no tail and we got quite attached to him.
“Lovely cat, absolutely lovely, well-natured, he would never go through the rubbish, so I didn’t suspect him of going through the neighbours’ rubbish or anything like that.”
Ticker the cat was adopted by Alastair about six months ago. Photo / Alistair Jenkins
Ticker was not wearing a collar when he was shot, and Jenkins was not certain if people in the area would know that he was his pet.
He thought it was very unlikely Ticker was mistaken for a wild animal, and said people shouldn’t be using firearms in residential areas.
“If somebody has a problem with someone else’s cat, there are channels to go through. There is the SPCA, there is the council and maybe the police. You don’t go and take matters into your own hands.”
Jenkins said he had made a police report but police were yet to speak to him. He shared the news on social media to raise public awareness of the incident.
“We’re frightened. We haven’t got a motive. This could be someone trying to taunt us. We just don’t know.”
