A cat who lived outside the Zeus’ Place animal daycare was fatally shot by a driver on Cadiz Street early Wednesday morning, prompting the owner to plead for the public’s help in identifying the gunman caught on video and for animal activists to offer a $1,000 reward.
The cat, named “Blackie,” lived in a feral cat colony cared for by the Zeus’ Place staff just outside their Freret Street building. Around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, a driver pulled up on Cadiz just off Freret and shot fatally shot Blackie, according to the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“Upon further investigation, it appears that the gunman drove around the block six times, each time staring at the cat, before opening fire and killing Blackie,” the SPCA says in a report. “It is also believed that other cats from the feral cat colony were shot. Blood trails and splatter have been located in several areas around the site of the shooting.”
The gunman’s car is described as an older model silver, four-door Ford Corsair with a garbage bag covering the rear passenger window, according to the SPCA. Anyone who can help identify the car or its driver is asked to call 368-5191 (extension 100) or email dispatch@la-spca.org, and information leading to an arrest could be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
(image via Zeus’ Place on Facebook)
As the investigation continues, the SPCA is also warning other feral-cat colony caretakers to be on high alert.
“My heart is broken. Someone shot and killed one of my feral cats from my colony outside Zeus’ Place on Freret this morning,” Zeus’ Place posted on social media Wednesday afternoon. “The other feral cats in the colony are going up to the injured cat to check on it and he keeps coming around and trying to shoot them. PLEASE crosspost these pictures far and wide and let’s find the cruel human who did this to my defenseless cats.”
Zeus’ Place owner Michelle Ingram told our reporting partners at WWL-TV this morning, “To be hunting domesticated animals in the middle of New Orleans is just insane.”
[Note: A version of this article was first posted Wednesday afternoon, and it was updated Thursday morning with additional information from Louisiana SPCA.]
Feral or not? So what is a DOMESTICATED animal doing on the sidewalk? Why did he not have a home? I am not condoning the actions of the individual who shot the cat, but do not mislead the public. Free-roaming cats are not harmless. They can spread a variety of zoonotic diseases.
Because a person shot an animal is no reason to be concerned that he is going to massacre dozens of humans.
Probably not, but killing pets is the training grounds for murders.
Without feral cats New Orleans would be over-run by rats which, as I’m sure you know, can spread deadly zoonotic disease. I’ll take the cats, thanks. And yes, anyone who would purposely harm a harmless animal would probably do the same to a human being; the impulse is the same.
I am sorry for your loss, but it’s just further proof that cats deserve to be INSIDE loving homes or sent to safety in kitty heaven by humane euthanasia. You already know that re-abandoning them on the street leaves them vulnerable to disease or torture, with no vet care or pain meds.
Wow. Either a “loving home” or death, with nothing in between. A rather extreme view, i/m/h/o. The cats in question, though feral, are being cared for.
This is horrific. I hope that everyone shares this information widely so this person can be caught.
I can’t believe people are basically victim blaming about this. This wasn’t a domesticated pet cat, but it was a cat who was part of a cared for feral colony. And maybe in a perfect world every cat and dog would have a loving home, but that isn’t the world we live in. The only person who should be shamed – and jailed – is the shooter.
And just my personal opinion, I think this predator, who circled the block, killed one cat, kept coming back to shoot at others, should be on law enforcement’s radar for other crimes. That is cruel and twisted behavior.
And he’s a pre-med student according to nola.com. Will make a great doctor one day. Scary.
Every cat is a domestic. Some just aren’t socialized.
I agree Linda. The reality is that there are some cat people who think our cats should never be allowed out to play in the grass and breathe in the fresh air.
If feral advocates truly cared about these cats they wouldn’t be roaming free to have terrible things happen to them.