Taylor Rose Shipman, East Tawas, Michigan woman shoots neighbor’s cat with crossbow cause she argued it was attacking her own pets.
A Michigan woman faces an animal cruelty charge after shooting her neighbor’s cat with crossbow after claiming the animal was attacking her own pets according to reports.
Taylor Rose Shipman, 23, of East Tawas, surrendered to authorities Monday on one count of felony third-degree killing or torturing an animal after an orange cat named Oliver was discovered on his owner’s porch July 15 with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his neck.
Remarkably the feline somehow survived the attack which took place four days earlier, on July 11, WJRT reported.
Oliver’s owner, Eric Erickson, said he contacted neighbors after finding his wounded pet and told deputies Shipman admitted to him that she shot the cat in ‘defense of her own cats’ four days earlier.
Shipman also claimed Oliver lunged at people while appearing to have rabies, Erikson told MLive.com.
Michigan woman shoots neighbor’s cat with crossbow. Picture of Oliver the cat via Iosco Humane Society.
Oliver resilient feline recovering
‘My jaw dropped,’ Erickson told the outlet. ‘She said she shot him [July 11]. Obviously, he ran off and it took him four days to get home.’
A warrant for Shipman’s arrest was issued Friday. She later turned herself in to the Iosco County Jail before being released on $10,000 bond, according to the Iosco County Sheriff’s Office.
Erickson dislodged the arrow from Oliver and treated the miracle cat’s wounds before taking him to an animal hospital the next day. The feline then spent three days at the veterinary hospital before heading back home.
‘He is doing spectacular,’ Erickson said Tuesday of Oliver, who was recovering back home with two other cats and dogs. ‘I’m humbled a bit from his strength.’
The Iosco County Humane Society held a fundraiser for the cat’s medical bills, raising more than $2,155 to cover his hospital stay and necessary follow-up care.
‘There’s a lot of good people out there in the world still,’ Erickson told WNEM. ‘They were reaching out from different states and Tawas is a pretty good community.’
If convicted, Shipman reportedly faces up to four years in prison.
