Belchertown woman claims family’s cat was shot by pellet gun

BELCHERTOWN, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - A Belchertown family told us their cat was shot with a pellet gun when he was roaming around the neighborhood. Now, they are asking the police and the public for help in finding out who may have pulled the trigger.

The Leclerc family told Western Mass News that their beloved cat, Pumpkin, came home last Tuesday night after roaming around their Belchertown neighborhood covered in blood.

“I thought maybe he got bit by a dog and within five minutes, we were in the car taking him to an animal hospital because he was losing blood out the hole,” said Pumpkin’s owner, Kimberly Leclerc.

They realized their cat may have been shot and they rushed him to a veterinary hospital in Connecticut. They said the vet found a bullet inside the cat’s abdomen

“It’s kind of a high-powered pellet gun bullet with a pointy tip to it…It’s a miracle it didn’t hit any major organs,” Leclerc added.

Thousands of dollars and multiple procedures and pills later, Pumpkin is resting at home with his family. Pumpkin’s family said he used to occasionally roam around the neighborhood but, after this incident, he’s strictly an indoor cat.

“It’s kind of scary to think that one of our neighbors did this,” Leclerc explained.

However, although he’s safe and sound now, the family told us they are looking to find whoever did this. They’ve posted on social media, filed a police report, and even started to make these flyers. Their hope is that someone will come forward or maybe they can inform their neighborhood that someone is doing this to animals.

“…Hoping that somebody would hear somebody talking and give us a clue to what happened…and I hope that this person does come forward...whether this was an accident or not. We want to know what happened,” Leclerc said.

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