Community Corner
Adopted! Arrow, the Arlington Cat Blinded by a Gunshot, Finds a Home
The buff tabby who was blinded after surviving BBs or buckshot to the head, is going home with his adopted family Friday.
Hundreds of people contacted the Animal Welfare League of Arlington when they found out about Arrow, the buff tabby that was shot by an unknown assailant and lost his eye. BBs or buckshot are still lodged in his head after an operation to remove one eye.
The brave cat, brought to the shelter by someone who found him near Ballston, has been building up his strength after surviving the ordeal. No one ever came forward to claim him or claim responsibility for wounding the cat. The shelter fielded calls from many who wanted to take him home.
He's going home today (Friday) with longtime Arlington resident Anne Hancock, who recently lost her own buff tabby cat, "Mr. Tom."
A widow, she's lived in the area since 1966 and has two cats (an 18-year-old female Siamese named Brianna and a 5-year-old male named Willie) who Arrow will play with, once he's become accustomed to his new surroundings, she said. "He'll tell me when he's ready," she said.
Hancock, an artist, said Arrow's ordeal — surviving the 30 BBs or bits of buckshot in his head and losing an eye is "unbelievable — if only he could talk," she said.
She plans to keep his name. She wonders about where he came from. "He's too affectionate to be a feral cat," she said.
She heard about Arrow from her daughter, a volunteer at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and another friend who rescues cats.
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