A dog and cat were shot in August and September
GLADSTONE -- The Westridge Heights Subdivision in Gladstone is normally quiet. Not much happens.
But things changed late August. Shannie the cat was shot, and when another pet was shot September 21, the pets' owners suspected there might be a connection.
Max is a two-year-old rat terrier. Just like Shannie the cat, he was shot once by an unknown assailant.
“When I reached down to touch his face,” explains Max’s owner, Gayle Paquin, “I could see the blood on his legs. This has traumatized him. He’s starting to bounce back. He’s starting to be his old self, but he's not the same."
Paquin was in her backyard that September evening. Max was outside when she went inside to answer the phone. She says she never even heard the gunshot.
“The fear level is very, very high. I have a grandson who's three years old and I do watch him," Paquin said.
She said she, like the rest of the tight-knit subdivision, was shocked when her next door neighbor's cat was shot a few weeks earlier.
“At first I thought, oh my God. It must be someone goofing around. But when she told me Shannie got shot, I was devastated. I thought, are you kidding me?" Paquin said.
So when it happened to Max, she was convinced the shooter was the same person. Close friend and neighbor, Tanya Lund, said things just aren't the same now. What they fear most is the shooter striking again.
“My pet happens to be my child,” explains Lund. “But there are children in this subdivision who are walking, and parents are very fearful."
TV6 repeatedly tried to contact the State Trooper investigating the cases, but our calls were never returned.
The Humane Society is working on a $2,500 reward for the capture and conviction of the pet shooter. If you have any information, contact Trooper Cowen at the Michigan State Police post in Gladstone at (906) 428-4412.
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