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Owners upset over cat-shooting incident; city says it was a public safety concern

Officer who shot cat that was apparently ill was acting according to city policy, official says

Dori and Randall Stone's cat Haze was shot by a Lebanon police officer after he was found ill in the 400 block of East Mulberry Street on Aug. 20. Contributed photo.

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By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer Updated 5:35 PM Friday, August 26, 2011

LEBANON — Dori and Randall Stone are devastated after a police officer shot their cat in the head and are now determined to get Lebanon’s policies regarding injured or stray animals changed.

Haze went missing last Friday and by Sunday he still hadn’t come home. They frantically searched their neighborhood, calling his name, because he never went far the times he left their yard on Silver Street. Little did they know that at around 1 p.m. Saturday a Lebanon police officer, answering an animal complaint call from a neighbor’s relative, shot Haze in the head and the relative stuffed him in the garbage.

“Something needs to done, if this is common practice it needs to be changed,” Dori Stone said. “My husband and I have not eaten since Sunday morning. We are just sick. We close our eyes at night and see his little face and to think as good of care we took of him for almost seven years, these were his last moments and that was the way he had to die, it’s unbearable.”

She said she went to the police station on Sunday and was told a cat had been euthanized on Saturday. She rushed over to a neighbor’s house and found Haze in a trash bag under some branches.

“We love our cats, do you know what it was like to pull your pet out of the garbage can and then pull him out of the garbage bag and his head is bloody with a bullet hole in it?” she said. “It’s so violent that they did this to our animal and made no effort to call the humane society or find his owners.”

City Manager Pat Clements said the police officer was following policy, and that animal cruelty laws don’t apply because it’s a matter of health, safety and welfare of the community.

“Based on the information I have received, it appears that the officer’s actions were necessary and in compliance with departmental policies,” he said. “There are currently no local or county agencies equipped to respond to sick or injured stray cats, and our options are limited.”

Clements said he understands that people in the community would be upset over the death of a pet, but that the officer who responded had no way of knowing the animal was a pet and not feral because it had no tags.

Stone said she was told Haze appeared to be hurt or ill and her neighbor had planned to knock on doors to see if the cat had an owner nearby, but that her brother-in-law called police.

According to a police incident summary, the caller said the cat was a stray and that he was fearful the cat had rabies. The animal was panting, did not respond the officer’s presence, and the officer felt the cat was suffering and in distress, according to the report summary.

The police policy manual states that the animal will be destroyed where it is located if it is safe to do so and under no circumstances is an officer to transport the animal in a city vehicle.

Mary Lee Schwarzwalder, executive director of the county humane society, said her shelter is not equipped to go out and rescue distressed pets but they do take them in when residents find them. The Warren County Dog Warden does not handle cats.

The Stone’s pet sitter, Cynthia Johnson said she wants to work with the city to perhaps assemble some volunteers — she said she’d be willing — who could transport sick or injured animals for the police.

“I would love to also hear other options, I would love to hear that other people think this is so wrong, that we can come up with some different and better solutions so this doesn’t happen again,” she said. “This was someone’s pet.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.

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