Family warning others after cat returns home with broken bone, wounds from BB gun

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a cat came home with a broken pelvis and BB pellets embedded in its legs.

His owners say they first noticed something as wrong on Wednesday when they went to let Salem, the cat, inside after he’d spent the night outside in the neighborhood.

“I was really sad, because that’s like my daughter’s best friend,” Ashley Johnson said.

The family immediately took Salem to the vet.

“They did his x-rays, and that’s when we seen that his pelvis was broke in three different places,” Johnsons said. “Plus, that’s when we seen all the pellets.”

Four pellets are discernible in x-ray. The owners don’t know how long they’ve been inside the 2-year-old cat.

On the broken pelvis, says Johnson, “They were thinking a car wreck at first, that he got hit by a car, but since there’s no road rash, no other injuries or anything, they said no. It had to have been some kind of blunt force. Like a kick, or him being tossed and landing on his bottom.”

Right now Salem is only able to lay around and rest. He has six-to-eight weeks of recovery ahead of him.

The family is sharing their story to raise awareness in their community, so other pet owners can be on the lookout for any injuries to their animals.

“I just want to know why,” Johnson said of whoever injured Salem. “Like, was he in something? Was he being a nuisance? Like, just no good reason whatsoever? I just want to know.”

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