A Lawndale resident who says he’s lost two cats in shootings is pleading for information on the person responsible for their deaths — and offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who can help apprehend them.
Alan Hall, who lives on 166th Street near Hawthorne Boulevard, said a third cat turned up severely injured after the first two were shot to death. He believes they’re being targeted with a high-power pellet rifle.
“These cats are like kids to me, and it was devastating to me to have my kids killed deliberately,” Hall said. “I mean it’s one thing for them to be hit by a car – that happens – but for somebody to buy a pellet gun, a small-game rifle with a scope, and take aim and deliberately shoot one of my pets…. If I catch you, I’m taking the gun from you, and going to show you what it feels like.”
The first cat killed was Seal, Hall’s most beloved among the many he’s rescued over the years. He had bonded with right off the bat, and the midnight-black feline went everywhere with him.
“He was more like a dog than a cat,” he said. “He was leash trained; we’d go to the stores, I’d take him different places. People were afraid to pet him though, because he was so big. They thought he was some kind of panther or something. It really broke my heart when I found him.”
Seal was shot by someone while he was playing outside of his home, Hall said. In his last moments, he crawled under Hall’s car and died.
“A few weeks after that, I found an orange tabby in the same spot on my driveway that had been shot,” Hall said.
And the shootings continued. Another cat of Hall’s, Tigger, soon disappeared.
“She was missing for four days, and I thought for sure she was dead,” Hall said. “Then she turned up four days later with a shattered leg.”
An X-ray of Tigger’s leg shows a bullet embedded in her that had shattered her tiny bones.
Anyone with information can email Hall at GasLamp520@verizon.net.