Police want to know who’s shooting cats with a blowgun in Coeur d’Alene

Coeur d’Alene police are looking for the person who shot a cat with a metal dart on Saturday.

They suspect the same person shot another cat with a blowgun just over a year ago.

The cat in Saturday’s incident was found with a metal rod protruding from its body in the 1200 block of North 10th Street, near Bryan Elementary School. The owner immediately took the cat to a veterinarian, and the animal is expected to recover, police said in a news release.

In May 2016, police responded to a similar incident near North Eighth Street and East Birch Avenue, also near the elementary school. Red, an 11-year-old tabby mix, was found with a 4-inch dart stuck in his skull. It narrowly missed his eye and brain, and he was expected to recover.

Neighbors at the time reported seeing blow darts lying around and stuck in trees and car tires in the neighborhood. PETA offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Red’s attacker.

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department asked the public to share leads by calling (208) 769-2320.