Crystal Lake Cat Shooting Prompts New PETA Video: ‘Cats Don’t Go Missing by Themselves!’

For Immediate Release:
November 22, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7383

Following reports that a 5-year-old cat named Timmy was shot in the spine and paralyzed, leaving him to drag himself home without the use of his hind legs, PETA is bringing its new video series targeting people who let their cats wander outside to Crystal Lake. In the spot, a man appears to be relaxing on his porch until he reveals his sinister intentions by slowly pulling out a firearm and taking aim at a meowing cat off-screen. The video ends with a message urging people to keep cats safe by keeping them indoors.

Additionally, Timmy’s guardians are offering a $500 reward for information that helps identify the shooter. A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for Timmy’s vet bills.

“The great outdoors is simply not great for cats, who can be perceived as a nuisance and harmed in heartbreaking and horrific ways,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA encourages all guardians to provide their cats with a happy and interesting indoor life safe from predators, speeding cars, and the many other dangers of the outdoor world.”

In addition to enduring violence and abuse at the hands of cruel and intolerant people, cats allowed to roam outdoors—as well as homeless ones fed regularly by people who somehow believe that the animals don’t need other care—are at risk of contracting parasites or potentially fatal diseases, being attacked by predators or run over by cars, and encountering other hazards. PETA notes that cats kept indoors need to be physically and mentally stimulated with a view of the outdoors, toys, climbing structures, scratching posts, cat TV, and other enrichment. PETA offers a catio-building guide as well as a “cat guardian’s bible” written by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk that’s full of tips and available for purchase here.

PETA’s video series, which features Y2K actor Jaeden Martell, depicts other examples of cat-killing cases and has run in Blaine, Minnesota, where alandlord allegedly poisoned cats whom a tenant was feeding in El Paso, Texas, where a cat was stomped on and stabbed with a screwdriver; Los Angeles, where a man is accused of shooting multiple homeless cats with a crossbow; and Pequea Township, Pennsylvania, where a cat was shot in the head with a metal arrow. Many more cases are detailed on PETA’s website.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.