Reward Offered for Information About Cat Shot With Blow Dart in Ames: 2012 in Review

Editor's Note: As the year winds down, Ames Patch is looking back at some of the stories that made you talk, cry, laugh or just scratch your head.

This story originally ran May 16

A neighbor of the man whose cat was killed with a blowgun has offered a reward for information about the shooting.

Valerie Stallbaumer who discovered the cat struggling to walk in her neighbor's driveway about 8 p.m. Tuesday said she started a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of the person or people involved in the shooting. She has contributed $100.

Stallbaumer found her neighbor Ron Carson's cat while he was out for dinner. She saw it stumbling from behind and picked it up and saw the orange tag of the dart sticking out of the cat's chest. She and a neighbor rushed it to the Iowa State University veterinary clinic but its heart had stopped.

Early Wednesday Lorna Lavender, Ames Animal Shelter supervisor, said animal control officers didn't know enough to determine what had happened, but it now appears that the cat was shot at close range and the person responsible could be charged with animal cruelty, according to the Ames Tribune.

Stallbaumer said she wanted to warn other people about the danger. The dart was about as thick as a fork tine.

“This is not something that anyone should have in the city here,” Stallbaumer said of the weapon used to kill the cat.

“This is just wrong. This isn't normal behavior you don't do that,” she said.  

SEE MORE ON PATCH

Cat Dies After Being Hit With a Blow Dart in Ames (Caution: Graphic Photo)

Blowguns Like One Used in Animal Cruelty Can Be Used in Ames

Ames Woman Heard Locomotive Sound as Storm Passed

Weird Ames: Woman Accused in 'High-Speed Breakup'

Man Who Reported Ames Home Invasion Speaks