Cat Miraculously Survives After Being Shot in the Face Twice: 'It's Heartbreaking'

By Laura Stewart September 9, 2019 at 4:50pm

A cat in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has stunningly survived after being shot in the face twice with a rifle.

Employees at an auto body shop in southeast Albuquerque noticed a black and white feline hovering around the building several months ago, court records show according to KOCO-TV.

Falling in love with the cat’s friendly demeanor, the workers started petting him and giving him food.

However, the shop owner, Sean Stanford, wasn’t happy with the cat hanging around. Employees told police that Stanford threatened to kill the cat, named Vespa, because he was tired of having the stray wandering the property.

The business owner showed up at work with a rifle and shot Vespa twice through the face and chin, according to court records.

Vets at @AW_Albuquerque say it’s a miracle “Vespa” survived being shot in the face. Now, the man police say is responsible – Sean Stanford – is behind bars. This morning on @krqe, I’ll have more details on the arrest & when Vespa will be available for adoption #KRQEmornings pic.twitter.com/fCsMs3Zbpu

— Jami Seymore (@JamiSeymore) September 9, 2019

One worker told police that Stanford had later confessed to shooting the cat, telling them directly that he had used the rifle on Vespa.

The worker then went to search and found the cat clinging to life at another business nearby. The employee rushed him to the vet for emergency surgery, where the cat has undergone multiple treatments already.

“That hero took him into a local veterinarian to try and get an idea of what was wrong, unfortunately, it was a big bill, and it is, it was a lot of damage, so he brought him to us to see if we could help,” Dr. Nicole Vigil with Albuquerque Animal Welfare told KRQE.

Kathryn Stutzman-Rodriguez, one of Vespa’s veterinarians, said the horrifying act of cruelty was heartbreaking and unthinkable.

“He’s a super friendly cat and someone shoots him — that’s like — you are going to make me cry,” she said, getting emotional.

“It’s so awful.”

“I don’t know how somebody could shoot a cat,” Vigil added. “It’s just heartbreaking, it’s just heartbreaking.”

“The bullet, one of them, entered right here in his little muzzle and when it went in, it destroyed his teeth and his jaw, so now he’s missing all of the right side of his bottom jaw,” Vigil continued. “He was unable to eat, unable to drink, he came in dehydrated, and suffering and in a lot of pain.”

Meanwhile, thanks to the courage of the employee who alerted police to Stanford’s actions, the business owner now faces a felony charge for extreme cruelty to animals and misdemeanor of negligent use of a firearm.

Stutzman-Rodriguez told KOCO-TV that the friendly kitty still has one bullet lodged in his body, underneath his chin. The cat will need at least one more surgery before he is released and ready for adoption.

All things considered, however, it seems likely that Vespa will make a full recovery. Thanks to his rescuers, he will soon be able to join a new family.

“That’s the best part of the story, knowing there’s good people out there,” Vigil said. “Because it’s pretty heartbreaking when you think about what happened to him.”

“He’s a survivor and a sweetheart and he doesn’t hold it against the world even though someone was so cruel to him,” she added. “He still has lots of love to give.”

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