Politics & Government
'Strushie The Cat Day' Honors Stray Killed By Crossbow
Strushie's cruel death outside a South Beach hotel touched animal lovers around the world.
MIAMI BEACH, FL — City commissioners proclaimed July 26 "Strushie The Cat Day" in honor of the stray, whose cruel death by crossbow touched animal lovers around the world. Officers and community members who participated in the investigation were honored during a meeting of Miami Beach Commissioners earlier this week. Officials said they received hundreds of emails and even enlisted the help of forensic experts from the U.S. Secret Service to solve the case.
"I have not been tweeted and retweeted and tagged more in my life internationally than for this incident," acknowledged Commissioner Michael Grieco, who later joked that he had a cat allergy. "I will tell you that the international animal-lover community is impressively large, impressively intimidating and also impressively impatient when it came to a little bit of the investigation." (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Beach Patch.)
Strushie was shot twice with a crossbow on April 26 and left to die near The Franklin Hotel, 860 Collins Avenue. That area of South Beach is close to a number of popular restaurants and bars. The animal's injuries were so severe it had to be euthanized.
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Miami Beach police sought assistance from computer forensic recovery specialists with the U.S. Secret Service's Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force to recover video from the hotel's security cameras that had apparently been erased. A hotel clerk at the Franklin Hotel where the cat spent most of its life, was subsequently charged in the case.
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A reward by animal lovers reached $27,000.
The city denounced animal cruelty and honored the memory of "Strushie" in a proclamation read aloud by Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who credited the public for keeping up pressure to see the investigation through.
"'Strushie' the cat was no ordinary feline," she said, reading from the city's official proclamation. "He created a colorful experience by entertaining hotel guests, lounging in the lobby and the patio, being a constant presence among his Miami Beach neighbors. 'Strushie' was admired and loved by tourists, employees and residents as a friendly and affectionate cat."
Ethel Dominguez of Miami Beach holds photos of "Strushie," the beloved stray cat that was killed by a crossbow. Photo by Paul Scicchitano
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