Teen charged with killing cat with arrow, police say

A 17-year-old Blackstone boy faces multiple charges in connection with the alleged killing of a cat with an arrow.

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The teen has been charged with the following crimes: Killing/maiming/poisoning an animal (felony). Damaging personal property (felony). Discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling (misdemeanor). Discharging a firearm near a highway (misdemeanor). The cat's owner, Donald Ingersoll, told Boston 25 News that his family was horrified to find their wounded cat, Lily, on Thursday night. Lily, who was male, was coming in for the night when Ingersoll noticed something was terribly wrong.

"I noticed as he was going up the stairs, there was banging," Ingersoll said. He was horrified when he looked closer. "I noticed he had the arrow lodged in him, so I grabbed him and rushed him to the vet in Uxbridge," Ingersoll said. But the cat's injuries were too severe, and he had to be euthanized.

“All the way through. You could see it, and it was quite a scene, so I just took him right away, and then we took him to Tufts in Grafton to see if surgery would help at all, but they said it was too extensive, so we had to do the most humane thing and put him to sleep," Ingersoll said.

Blackstone police were investigating the incident and partnered with an anonymous individual to provide a $500 reward to anyone who could help identify the person responsible. After receiving a number of tips, the Blackstone Police Department executed a search warrant at the teen's home Sunday at 10 a.m.

At the home, police found a bow and several arrows matching the one that struck the cat.

"We have a 3-year-old and we also have another cat outside at the time, so thank God we got her in but she’s never going outside ever again," Ingersoll said.

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