COOPER CITY, Fla. – Broward County deputies are investigating after someone shot a family's pet cat eight times with a pellet gun Tuesday in Cooper City.
Tears ran down the face of Katie Pedraza as she described finding Maverick laying severely injured and covered in blood as she pulled into her driveway near Southwest 49th Street and Southwest 89th Avenue.
"Initially, we thought she was, like, attacked by a dog or she was hit by a car," Pedraza said.
Pedraza said rushed Maverick to the emergency room of Animal Medical Center Cooper City.
Veterinarians there took X-rays and found that Maverick shot been shot multiple times.
"It broke my heart that someone could do that," Pedraza said.
Veterinarians performed surgery on Maverick on Wednesday afternoon. Pedraza said Maverick was in critical condition but has stabilized.
"There is one lodged in her knee," Pedraza said of the pellets. "There are two right here by her jaw, one right by her throat, and there is one that is going right up her nose and behind her eye and she has one on her back."
Her veterinarian said the staff first have to let Maverick's body recover before they can attempt to remove the pellets from her body.
Pedraza said she is concerned that the gunman could strike again and hurt other animals in her neighborhood.
"We need to find the person responsible for this heartless act," Pedraza said. "Whatever reason you had to do this to her, it wasn't the right thing to do."
A GoFundMe page has been created to help with Meverick's medical bills, which have already surpassed $8,000.