A Marion County Circuit Court judge sentenced a teen boy to probation for shooting and killing a cat with a pellet gun in southeast Salem in May. The boy, 17, admitted on Sept. 19 to first-degree aggravated animal abuse in Marion County Juvenile Court.
He and two other teens were accused of killing a cat named Vortex.
The teen, reading from a piece of paper, told the courtroom that he felt remorse for what he did and said he was pressured by his peers to look tough and to shoot the cat.
“I wish I could take it back, and I am ashamed of what I did,” he said.
Salem Reporter generally does not identify minors adjudicated for crimes other than murder, unless they are tried as adults.
The boy’s defense attorney said in court that the incident resulted from peer pressure and poor decision making. He was 16 at the time of the shooting.
On May 10, police responded to reports of a cat being shot to death on the sidewalk outside of a home in the 2200 block of Southeast Lee Street. The area is near Lee City Park.
The residents’ security camera captured the act on video around 2:30 a.m. that morning. The recording showed five teens gathered around the cat before one of them shot and killed it with a pellet rifle.
At the recent settlement conference, the teen said he and the other teens were on their way to a friend’s property to shoot targets with pellet guns when they came across Vortex in the street. The other boys, the teen said, pressured him to shoot the cat.
That’s when he pulled the trigger, leaving the cat convulsing on the pavement. Video played in the courtroom showed the boys appearing frantic when they realized the cat was not dead after the first shot.
The teen said he shot the cat again to put Vortex “out of her misery.”
While the video played in court, the cat’s owners began to cry as they watched their pet die.
At the hearing, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Tiffany Underwood said the video was so graphic that she could not bear to watch it in its entirety.
The conditions of the teen’s probation prohibit him from owning or caring for animals, and he is not allowed to contact the cat’s owners.
This probation could be in effect for as long as five years, according to Troy Gregg, Marion County juvenile director.
Gregg said the length of the probation will depend on the boy’s ability to follow his conditions and stay out of trouble.
Prosecutors dismissed a second allegation of first-degree animal abuse as part of the teen’s settlement, the juvenile equivalent of a plea deal.
Gregg said the cases for the other two teens involved in the cat killing have yet to be resolved.
He said the two teens were both accused of first-degree aggravated animal abuse. One of the teens was also accused of attempted tampering with physical evidence and interfering with a peace officer, and the other was also accused of first-degree animal abuse.
RELATED COVERAGE:
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Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790. Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
