Cat shot in West Roxbury, euthanized
Ann M. Coska lets her eight cats out into their West Roxbury neighborhood every morning, and they always return for lunch. But on June 30, Chewy came back limping.
“He was dragging his left hind leg and he collapsed on the floor,’’ Coska said. “When they finally did X-rays, his hip was totally smashed.
“I thought he was hit by a car,’’ she said.
Doctors told Coska her cat had been shot.
The X-rays showed shrapnel from the bullet was still lodged in the animal.
The cat also suffered lung damage.
Boston police detectives visited Coska on Tuesday, after retrieving the shrapnel from MSPCA-Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston. Police will run ballistics on the shrapnel to determine whether the bullet came from a BB or pellet gun.
Doctors offered to amputate the leg or perform surgery for $5,000. Coska said she had no choice, and asked them to euthanize her cat.
She made her agonizing decision, she said, because Chewy never liked being held, let alone being cared for full time.
“He was a long-haired, fantastically beautiful, white and gray cat,’’ Coska said.
Despite the shooting, her other cats still roam free.
“They’re out there now,’’ the 70-year-old woman said yesterday.
“It’ll take a lot more than that to intimidate me.’’
Detectives are investigating the shooting. 