WASHINGTON — Someone shot Maximus the cat. At close range. On purpose.
That’s the disturbing news Christi Montgomery got from an emergency care veterinarian in Waldorf, Maryland, after bringing her 3-year-old orange tabby in for treatment last week.
Charles County Animal Control wants to find out who did it. And the county’s Crimesolvers program is offering a reward in this case of animal cruelty.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, sometime between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on May 2, Maximus was found injured in the 5200 block of Colebrook Street in La Plata.
Montgomery said Maximus had been in the family’s yard, and she went inside for about 20 minutes when her neighbor called her to say it looked as if Maximus’ paw was injured.
Montgomery said, “And by the time I got there, she whispered, ‘Christi, it’s really bad.'”
Montgomery said when she saw her tabby, she could tell right away something was seriously wrong.
Looking at her cat’s left front leg, she said to herself, “It’s not supposed to be configured like this.”
She brought her cat to the Waldorf Emergency Care Clinic and got the disturbing news.
The veterinarian told her that Maximus had been shot. “And I said: ‘No way. Not in my neighborhood,’” Montgomery recalled.
The clinic first thought Maximus’ leg could be saved. But on Wednesday, it was decided that Maximus would need to have the leg amputated at the shoulder.
“We didn’t really have much of a choice,” Montgomery said. “He was in an extreme amount of pain.”
What bothered Montgomery, in addition to the trauma the cat suffered, was the impact it had on her 10-year-old daughter. Since their pet was shot, Montgomery said, her daughter did not want to do simple things, such as go to the mailbox, and she doesn’t feel safe in their neighborhood.
“I tried to explain to her that some people just suck,” Montgomery said.
Her daughter loves animals and recently had a birthday party, where instead of having guests bring presents for her, they brought pet supplies for the local humane organization.
“It’s hard for her to understand how somebody could do this,” Montgomery said.
Charles County has regulations that prohibit pet owners from letting their pets — including cats — roam. Montgomery, who is a police officer with the Maryland National Capital Park Police, concedes that she may have been in violation of that. However, she has never gotten a complaint, and animal control told her that there has not been a complaint about roaming animals filed in the last 10 years.
Maximus, who Montgomery took in as a stray when he was a kitten, has a long haul ahead. However, she said that in the future he will be staying inside.
A friend of Montgomery’s has set up a Go Fund Me page for Maximus.
Anyone with information should Charles County Animal Control at 301-609-3431.
