West Fork man guilty of cruelty for shooting cat with arrow

 Micaeleb Prather
Micaeleb Prather

FAYETTEVILLE -- A West Fork man pleaded guilty Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court to felony aggravated animal cruelty in connection with shooting a cat in the head with an arrow in January.

Micaeleb Prather, 19, of 14045 Wallin Mountain Road was sentenced to 90 days in jail, five years supervised probation, fined $1,000 and ordered to complete a psychiatric evaluation and comply with the recommendations at his own expense.

"I think it was appropriate given that he had no prior criminal record, but again there's no reason that kind of cruelty should be tolerated," said Amy Driver, deputy prosecutor. "We just don't need that."

Prather was arrested after the cat with an arrow lodged in its head was found near the intersection of East Huntsville Road and Happy Hollow Road in southeast Fayetteville.

Simba was found by a friend of the owner who was feeding animals while the owner was away. The woman called authorities, who took the cat to the Fayetteville Animal Shelter, Driver said. Veterinarians at Fayetteville Animal Services were able to remove the arrow from the cat's head and it survived.

"It had been that way for several days and was in excruciating pain," Driver said. "It's surprising the cat survived. It was a miraculous recovery. The people at the animal shelter did a great job."

Simba was reunited with its owner after recovering.

NW News on 07/24/2015

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