Cat with arrow in head found in Tokyo park

A white cat found with an arrow stuck in its forehead in a Tokyo park has been safely rescued, police said Saturday.


Courtesy of Fujikake Animal Hospital.
The cat is expected to live after doctors removed the arrow lodged in its skull.

Although the injuries to the forehead were not life-threatening, the tip of the steel arrow had penetrated within 5 millimeters of the brain, doctors said after performing an operation to remove the projectile.

A passerby found the cat in a bush at a park in Tokyo's Itabashi-ku shortly before 9 a.m., Friday, before alerting the park office.

The cat was immediately taken to the local Fujikake Animal Hospital, where doctors cut the skin off its forehead and removed the 18-centimeter-long arrow that was lodged in its skull.

Officers also revealed that another cat was found in the park late Friday night with the same type of arrow stuck in its hip, adding that its likely the same person victimized both animals. But the arrow fell off when officers tried to rescue the second cat, which was later captured and taken to the same hospital.

Police officers said that the person who shot the arrow at the cats faces arrest for violating the Animal Protection Law that bans the abuse of animals. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, June 28, 2003)