Niles Father Seeks Answers After Cat Shot With Pellet Gun Dies

A Niles father is looking for the person responsible for shooting his family’s 2-year-old Bengal cat with a pellet gun, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The cat, Autumn, later died after being shot while out walking in the neighborhood on May 21. She was acting strange when she returned, according to the article, and went right to her bed, John Wernecke of Niles told the Chicago Tribune.

The family later learned a metal pellet had been shot into her neck after rushing the cat to TLC First Animal Hospital on Chicago’s Northwest Side the next morning, according to the newspaper. The pellet was removed but Autumn’s condition didn’t improve.

The family eventually made the decision to euthanize the cat six days later, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Wernecke is upset following his cat’s death and is looking for the person responsible. He has posted and handed out fliers in his neighborhood and is asking anyone with information to call him or Niles police, according to the article.

“Who does that kind of thing? This was a domesticated animal, someone’s pet,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “This was like shooting a member of someone’s family. My kids are 11 and 12 and this cat meant the world to them.”

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