A Grand Rapids Michigan cat was found shot through the head by an arrow yesterday and has received treatment at local veterinary services. He has been taken by a rescue group which is now overseeing his veterinary care and, hopefully, his eventual adoption.
The horrible misfortune and crime against this poor stray cat is sadly just one of several cases of this type we have seen in the last two months in the US and UK, where a number of cats have similarly been shot by arrows.
Here is the case of the cat named Bow.
A stray now named Bow was found shot in the head with an arrow on May 10, a few days after neighborhood residents who fed him noticed that he had gone missing.
The kind couple who found him put $200 toward his care, which began at Michigan Veterinary Specialists. Local rescue Carol’s Ferals took over his case from there and he is presently in the care of Animal Hospital of Lowell.
The arrow has been removed but little Bow is still not out of the woods, so he will continue to remain under observation and medical care.
If he recovers Carl’s Ferals will continue to care for him and hopes to place him in an adoption.
Here is Bow’s story as told by his friends at the Justice For Bow Facebook page which Bow’s concerned supporters have started to help raise awareness of what can happen to outdoor and feral cats and to rally support for Bow. They hope to raise donations for Bow’s future veterinary care. All donations should be made to Carol’s Ferals. There is a ChipIn for donations.
“Bow used to be a stray cat, living somewhere near Burton and US131 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was being fed by multiple neighbors, but never had a place to call home. When neighbors had not seen him for a few days, they started to worry.
On May 10, 2011 he was found shot in the face with an arrow. The arrow entered his left cheek, went through his esophagus and exited just past his right shoulder. The woman who found him brought him to Michigan Veterinary Specialists, but only had $200 to donate toward his care.
The doctors and staff at MVS removed the arrow and donated antibiotics and IV fluids for him. Amy Smith Velthouse, a licensed veterinary technician at Michigan Veterianry Specialists and volunteer at Carol’s Ferals was contacted to try to find a rescue to help him. She immediately called Carol Manos (of Carol’s Ferals) who arranged for him to be transferred to the Animal Hospital of Lowell, where his is currently under the care of Dr. Bruce Langlois.
Bow is not “out of the woods” yet. He is still at great risk of infection and sepsis. He will be cared for by Dr. Bruce Langlois, Amy Smith Velthouse, Melissa Mulder and Carol Manos. Hopefully, if he is able to heal completely, he will eventually be adopted out through Carol’s Ferals.“
Update from Carol May 11, evening:
BOW UPDATE: Bow is being cared for at Animal Hospital of Lowell by Dr. Bruce Langlois. He says he is “cautiously optimistic” about his situation at this point. Since Bow has been under anesthesia and sedated, it’s not possible to assess his state of mind or motor skills yet.
TV news video on the story.
the person that did that is pure evil
I can’t even imagine why someone would do something like that to a poor innocent animal!
OMG ! What a SICK person to do something like that! I’m going to “Like” this Kitty’s page right now!!!
Oh dear God… why do things like this happen? Why do some people find it so difficult to be kind hearted? Poor sweet kitty… our prayers are with you…
There have been a lot cats being shot with arrows and this is just horrible. I live in Lansing, Michigan, which is not that far from Grand Rapids. I am sending prayers for Bow and his recovery. I stopped to check on a feral colony of cats today that’s behind a restaurant about a block from my house. When I was doing rescue and foster, we rescued 6 kittens from this colony, nurshed them back to health and they all found homes. We were not feral rescue people, but we could not leave these babies because they all had infected eyes and one kitten lost it’s eye. There is now a group of people who trap, neuter/spay and release them. There were bales of straw, lots of plastic boxes with hay in them and holes cut in all the boxes for the cats to go in and have a dry place to sleep. There was plenty of food and water. There a big shed there too. None of them would come up to me, but I am grateful they are being cared for. Please keep us updated on Bow. Thank you for posting the story. Joyce
Praying for complete healing~! Please Jesus as our Divine Physician place your loving hands upon this poor innocent creature of yours and Thank you so very much for the angels you’ve already sent him and the ones you will send that will find him a forever kind and loving home for him. God bless all those that have helped him. I also pray for the person that did this that they NEVER do it again.~!
I hate people sometimes! Justice for this CAT NOW! 🙁
I can’t believe than can happens things like this. Awful..! The beast (sorry, I can’t call “person” to a demon who made this), must be in jail.
Please, sorry, my english is pretty clumsy, more when I’m really angry but I think you could understand me.. 🙁
God, I hate this.
I left a comment on Life With Cats. This is just horrible and I don’t live that far from Grand Rapids.
GGGRRRRR….. POOR KITTEN ……
evil mean people. i so wish they did not exist. they will rot in hell.
People suck.
Shared.
Like I said with Arrow, these punks think it’s funny to shoot cats with arrows, I’d like to see how funny they think it would be if I took my Saiga AK and shot at their feet Old West style to make them dance for my amusement.
Oh my God, this is so sad. Bless poor kitty.
I love animals way more than people
What I think is great about this is good old Karma, “What goes around, Comes around”! I pray that the kitty makes a full recovery,I also pray that the scumbag that did this gets a good long jail term!
Absolutely disgusting!!! I hope that the authorities are able to catch this cold blood piece of pond scum and Bow gets his justice!! Many meows, purrs, and prayers out to little Bow for a good recovery, and many hopes that he goes to a good, safe forever home with humans that will love and care for him. Also, best wishes for the good people who took care of him before his accident, the person who found him, and those all who are caring for him now.
AMEN!
Let’s focus on the kindness of the Michigan couple and Michigan Veterinary Specialists for their love and their hard earned money to save Bow. The perpetrator may never be found but I find solace knowing that all parties will have to answer to a higher power. I think we all know where each will end up 🙂
so few words…sums it up perfectly.
The more I get to know animals the more I love them. The more I hear about people the more I hate them.
One of our cats, who was about 17 when she died was shot with a bb gun when she was a kitten. Fortunately, we found her so we could get herto the vet. People that do these sort of things should be punished just as if they would have done it to a human. These are horrible.