A man from Aytos fatally shot a domestic cat in front of its owner and her six-year-old son. The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at around 8:30 p.m., while the child was playing in the yard of his home. Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case, and the suspect has been detained for up to 24 hours.
The victim, Ivanka Gadelova, told the broadcast of “Hello, Bulgaria“ on Nova TV that the evening began completely normally. She was in the yard with her son, who was drawing with chalks.
“We were near the table where the child was playing, and I was standing next to him and watching him. At one point, I heard a deafening noise. I instinctively understood that it was not a pirate, but a gunshot“, the woman said.
Shortly before that, their one-year-old cat had been around them, but then moved to a neighboring uninhabited yard. “I saw the cat bend and throw itself into the air, and then lie on the ground and writhe in terrible agony“, said Gadelova.
According to her, everything happened just a few meters from her and the child. “We were standing next to each other and were two steps away from what was happening. Our eyes were directed at the cat, which was in agony“, she added.
The woman claims that immediately after the shot, she noticed her neighbor near the place where she believed the shot came from. “I saw him and shouted: “Why did you shoot the cat?“. He calmly answered me: “Who? Me? I'm just coming home from work, there's no one home. I have nothing against cats. They're nice animals“, the victim said.
She specified that she didn't see a weapon in the man's hands, but according to her, the location of the yards and houses ruled out any other direction from which the shot could have been fired. Gadelova pointed out that she had never had a conflict with the neighbor before. “We don't know each other. I've never talked to him, we haven't communicated“, the woman said.
After what happened, she immediately called 112. Police officers arrived at the scene. “Thank you for your adequate reaction and support. The child was in a very strong state of stress. The animal died in front of us. "My son had a very strong connection with the kitten, which always slept at his feet," Gadelova said.
The man, named by the victim as the perpetrator, was detained for up to 24 hours. According to information from the investigation, he eventually confessed to the law enforcement agencies that he killed the animal.
A pre-trial investigation has been initiated into the case. The materials are to be sent to the Burgas District Prosecutor's Office, which will decide whether and what charges should be filed.