Missoula Cat Shootings Prompt New PETA Video and Up to $5,000 Reward for Catching Shooter

For Immediate Release:
September 20, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Shocking reports of people attacking cats have recently grabbed headlines across the U.S., prompting a new PETA video series that’s running on television stations nationwide—and now coming to Missoula. Following reports that two local cats were shot with high-penetration “terminator” pellets, the group’s new spot targets people who let their cats wander outside. 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. The series includes a spot featuring It actor Jaeden Martell.

Additionally, PETA is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for shooting the two cats—only one of whom survived after undergoing emergency surgery.

“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. The group 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 depicts other examples of cat-killing cases, has run in Blaine, Minnesota, where alandlord allegedly poisoned cats who were being fed by a tenant on his property; 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.

Anyone with information related to the shooting of the two cats in the Lower Rattlesnake neighborhood should contact the Missoula Police Department at 406-552-6300.

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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.