With many tears in my eyes, my heart expresses such deep gratitude to each and every one of you who left comments about Tuxedo’s tragic demise. Such loving and kind words were shared from you and I could feel the strength and caring each of you expressed.
It has given me much solace in this time of deep sorrow. I can’t thank you enough for your generosity and sharing of a kindred spirit. For your love and support, thank you so much.
Today I believe I discovered the guilty parties. It appears that my next door neighbors have recently acquired a BB Gun and this morning were out practice shooting. A friend told me they were there and at first I wanted to go over and punch them in the face. I almost left the house without stopping over. But I just had to.
I confronted them and asked about Monday afternoon – when Tuxedo was shot. There were two young men being chaperoned by an adult. The boys hid at the table where the rifle was, while the adult spoke with me. He denied any knowledge of the shooting. He also said that they wouldn’t shoot a cat, that they liked animals.
But being at the river, they stopped shooting over the water as fishermen were on the other side. The target they were shooting at was towards my house. So they were shooting at my house. The area that was behind the target was one of Tuxedo’s favorite haunts. While it may have been an accidental shooting, the location of where the bullet hit was suspicious.
I do believe they are the guilty party and that they were aiming for Tuxedo’s chest, but missed. But there is no way I can prove it.
Yes, I did call the police and animal control. It appears that there is no law prohibiting them from shooting BB Guns, even if it is aimed at someone else’s house. Not even reckless endangerment. No justice will be made for Tuxedo. But even if there was, it wouldn’t bring him back to me.
As you can imagine, it’s been a sad and lonely day around the house today. I miss him bounding around, meowing and chatting with me.
On another note, I decided to go and do some birding to get some mental health time. I’m privileged to have close access to an Osprey nest and today was house building day.
Emily Carter ~ Nature as Art 
That’s such injustice to Tuxedo, More so I am appalled by the parent not owning up something so obvious. Geez, That’s quite the sight for the Osprey though! wow it gets busy huh!
I know..somehow I’m sure he knew about it but didn’t want to get involved. But he was so believable. Thanks for the Osprey shots – it was so fun to watch him build.
Karma will take its course, that much I’m sure of for them.
That’s what I’m thinking too. Thanks Andy.
Oh Emily, my heart just aches for you right now… And no, any knowledge about who did this terrible thing to Tuxedo will not bring your sweet boy back to you. But he IS with you. Trust me on this. I still have yet to write about my Maggie Mae, for she WAS/is my heart. But I know now, she is with me. They never really leave us. And thank you for the ospreys. Maggie would have loved that….
Oh you know the heart wrenching pain losing such a loved cat as Maggie and Tuxedo. They will always be with us, and new cats will replace them. However it’s never the same.
Indeed, Emily, for always always… After I lost Maggie people would tell me this, but it took time for me to understand how true it is. And… I personally found that I really needed to reach out and start loving a new kitty, not just to help that kitty get out of a shelter and have a safe home. Not even just to fill the empty space in our world that Maggie left. It was also to bring Maggie close again. Maggie IS here with us, just in a different way and somehow because of … Marmee. It’s been an amazing, amazing experience, and it goes on…
Emily it’s so hard to know what to say, or do. The world is not a kind place, for sure. All we can do is cherish those we love, human or not. This quote says it all, for me. I copied this from someone’s blog but I don’t remember whose. We should substitute as needed, the word, ‘people”.
The Diary of Anais Nin: “You cannot save people. You can only love them.”
Isn’t that a true quote. Thank you so much for sharing this Robert, and you are right. Cherish the times we have with others.
I grieve when selfishness and indifference cause unnecessary sorrow. Everyone loses. My thoughts continue to be with you – many hugs.
“Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either.” Erich Fromm
Wow, isn’t that a powerful quote. Thank you so much for all of your warm and loving care through the airwaves. Thank you so much for being there and being my friend.
Ah Emily!!! I’m so glad we are sharing the journey!!! Hugs coming over the wires…
Sorry about Tuxedo, children do stupid things, and don’t even realize it till they are adults. The pictures of the Ospreys are lovely.
Such a good positive antidote to the awfulness of the BB neighbours – and great shots too!
A veery sad story. Wonderful series of photos.
I’m still speechless, Emily. Truly am sorry and I still believe in Karma. Glad you went out to take a mental health break. Do take care of yourself. Love and Prayers, Perpetua.
Can you even imagine? I bet this makes you even happier you keep your cats inside. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.
I clicked the like button for the photos, not the story.
The cops in your area must have been late for their doughnut break, as shooting a cat, even with a BB gun is a crime, it’s called animal cruelty. At least it is in most localities. Poor city. I won’t tell you what I would be doing if I were you.
See…I need you around to beat the crap out of them for me. Although, they are too close for comfort and you don’t want to piss them off. It’s too easy for them to get at us, either property or us. So to stay safe, I didn’t push it. Did find out there is a law, but need to call the police dept with the statute to tell them they were wrong.
From what you’ve said I think it’s pretty clear that you have found the culprits…….and even if it was an accident, then I’m afraid that doesn’t excuse the stupidity or negligence. I can’t believe the attitude of the adult or the police. On a more positive note….the images of the Osprey nest are superb.
It is truly a crazy story cat, and one I just have to get over. If I hadn’t dropped my camera just before I stopped at the Osprey nest, they would have been perfect. 🙂 Ok..so go with the soft focus look. LOL
I hope you got my message yesterday as, try as I might, I just couldn’t log in my wordpress account to post my comment. I feel terribly for you still and, although nothing will bring beautiful Tuxedo back, I hope your neighbours will learn a hard lesson and won’t go shooting so carelessly ever again, so that other animals can wander around freely and safely. All my love always. Thinking of you. ❤
I am so sorry for the delay in responding to you Fatima. As you can imagine, I was so heartbroken that I really couldn’t talk with anyone. I haven’t seen the neighbors shoot out there again, so I think the message was well delivered. Hope you can get into your account now.
I hope you’re feeling a little bit better now, as I know these things take time from my own experience. I do hope your neighbours have learned a lesson and give up their shooting for good. My account seems to be fine now: I think they were doing updates. Will be going away again at the end of March for 3 weeks and will start posting when I get back towards to end of April. Big hug. Keep well and warm. ❤
He will always be in your heart!
Kids do so stupid things, but parents these days aren’t teaching kids the right way to handle things if they lie and cover things up. I’ll leave this as, it wouldn’t be the last they saw of me. …
Beautiful photos! I don’t think ospreys come this far north… They are smart to stay in nice weather!
Is that so? Somehow I thought Ospreys were everywhere. I did need to be careful and not piss them off as we live too close to them. Too easy for them to hurt us or our property.
So very sorry Turn them into the SPCA
Thanks Eunice – tried the police and animal control and got nowhere. Couldn’t prove they were the culprits anyway.
Bastards 😦 evil does walk among us 😦
My heart is heavy for you, Emily. There is obviously no remorse on their part. I hate guns of any description. The damage they can do is so final and devastating. You obviously ahve wonderful memories of Tuxedo, but as Scott Fitzgerald said, “Memories warm you up from the inside, but they also tear you apart.” Sending you love and hugs. (Your Osprey shots are truly superb.)
I hadn’t realized how much he was a part of my life. I’d head to the door to go look for him many times during the day. Dang..that cat made me work ! Loved him to tears though. Thank you for your kind words.
The death of a pet is heartbreaking, even when it’s their time.
I’m sad for your loss of Tuxedo, especially in the manner it happened.
Deep love creates deep loss. I’m sorry.
Your words are truly heartwarming. Thank you Denise.
Good for you for confronting your neighbors. It has not changed the situation concerning Tuxedo or brought about ‘justice’, but hopefully, whether accident or not, those two young men saw the pain they caused and will think twice before pointing their guns at an animal again. In the meantime, log your conversation with your neighbors and the date. If another animal in the neighborhood is wounded or killed, then you have a pattern of animal cruelty. Peace to you in this difficult time.
Somehow I think they got the message. I did contact the neighborhood association, so the alert is on.
Thinking of you and your family, because no matter what good may come of it down the line, a dear pet is part of the family and the grief is so very well. Treat yourself with TLC in the coming days.
I am so heartbroken not just for you…. But for those kids, who are being TAUGHT by their parents that shooting and killing animals is OK. Even if it was an accident — shooting at your home — they weren’t even taught to own up to their mistake and tragedy. Parents taught them otherwise. Just tragic. Laws need to be amended: So now it’s OK to shoot at people’s homes, hmmm? Sending so much love your way.
Somehow I think the boys got a lashing as they haven’t been out again, and the gun is gone. They just didn’t fess up. Thank you sweetie for all of your kind words. Miss you tons.
That’s horrible and I’m sorry, unforgivable. We all know most kids are irresponsible to some degree but it’s a shame when adults are too. Years ago a boat driven only by children, the driver at the time was no doubt under ten and couldn’t see as the hull rose up, almost hit my friends and I preparing to wakeboard. We went to their house and confronted the parents; their biggest concern was that I swore, “used choice words”, in front of their children. What happened to Tuxedo reminds me of the lack of empathy, humility, and responsibility we witnessed that day. Good for you for confronting them and calling the police.
I’m sure Tuxedo was a really happy kitty thanks to you and loved the life you gave him. Your Osprey experience looks as though it succeeded in warming you up a bit as there’s really nothing words alone can do.
My heart goes out to you,
eLPy
Tuxedo was a crazy happy kitty and he had so much love and joy. A truly warm and open heart he had. I will really miss his eyes when they would look at me with such deep and honest love. Thank you so much for your warm words. They mean so much to me.
@}–
Good that you had him for the time you did.
Keep on remembering!
eLPy
I’m so very sorry for your loss.
Thank you so much Loni. I’m feeling better now.
My heartfelt sympathy to you. I can’t believe that law enforcement can’t/won’t do anything about someone shooting toward your house, even if it was with a BB Gun. What if one of those BB’s had hit you? Would they do anything then? Thoroughly disgusting and heart wrenching.
I’m totally with you too. What if something happened to us. I did see that the neighbors stopped target practice though. I think they knew it was against the law.