Man shoots cat in head in front of children to put it ‘out of its misery,’ Polk deputies say

Related video: A Florida officer rescued a kitten from a roadway in May 2024.

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A man was arrested after he shot a cat several times in the head in front of two children, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday, deputies responded to an Auburndale home after a man was said to have “shot a cat’s eye out” with a BB gun in front of kids.

According to an affidavit, a young girl and her cousin were inside the home when they watched the girl’s 2-year-old cat, Tiger, walk into the road.

That’s when a car stopped and a man got out of the vehicle with a BB gun. The children then watched as he pumped the BB gun and fired a pellet into the cat’s head, before firing three more shots.

The adult inside the home confronted the suspect, Anthony Dampier, who told her he was “putting the cat out of its misery.”

Dampier told deputies he was riding in a car when he saw a cat on the road and had gotten out to look at it. He said the animal had labored breathing, appearing to have been struck by a car.

That’s when deputies said he grabbed a Sportsman 900 Pellet Rifle and shot the cat once in the head.

Dampier told the driver to leave the cat after shooting it. When deputies questioned the driver, she said Dampier shot the cat twice but said they didn’t contact officials or animal control because “she had called before, and ‘no one ever came out.'”

Officials said the cat was left lying on the sidewalk, still breathing but limp when it moved. A wound was present above its right eye, with blood leaking out, covering its face and right front leg, the affidavit detailed. Deputies are unsure of how many times the cat was shot.

“A fresh blood poll and bloody paw prints” trailed away from the area where the cat was reportedly shot, according to the affidavit.

Dampier was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty and using a weapon during a felony offense.

The cat, Tiger, was taken to the Polk County Animal Control facility to undergo further evaluation. The animal’s current condition is unknown.

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