By Sharyn L. Decker

Lewis County Sirens news reporter



Centralia City Council member and pastor of a downtown church Bill Bates says he’s guilty of “making wrong use of judgement” when he shot and killed a neighbor cat with a pellet gun earlier this week.

Bates, 60, said he was surprised the animal died as when he used the air-powered rifle on a possum in his yard, he had to shoot it three times to kill it.

He didn’t mean for the cat to die, Bates said, he was just tired of it dropping “deposits”, messing in his beauty bark and walking on his clean cars.

Bates said he saw it walk behind the arborvitae shrubs and fired into the arborvitae shrubs. Usually he’s 30 or 40 yards away, he said.

“If I’d have done it on purpose and wanted to kill the stupid thing, I wouldn’t have told anyone,” Bates said yesterday.

Bates came across as frustrated that the news of the incident and criticism of him had, in his words, gone viral on the Internet.

It happened on Monday on the 900 block of Ham Hill Road in Centralia and he confessed right away, Bates said.

“I went to the owners, I apologized, offered retribution,” he said. “I’ll be glad to buy them a cat. I’ll bring ’em an Easter lily if I have to.”

Dusty Pannette and her family are devastated, and shocked, following the knock on their door and the news their 12-pound “Susie” was dead.

“We didn’t even know it was bothering this guy,” Pannette said.

Pannette said the neighborhood is filled with cats and dogs and Susie – who is actually a male – for the past 10 years has been an indoor and outdoor cat, one who often prowled the open pasture behind their houses for mice.

“Everyone in the neighborhood knows this cat, he’s not a stray, he’s not aggressive,” Pannette said. “We all let our animals roam freely, we never thought twice about it.”

Pannette said she was stunned and confused when Bates – who she didn’t really know – announced what he’d done and told her he usually shoots at her cat’s feet but this time he “got” him.

“The words I’m sorry never came out of his mouth,” she said. He just said he felt bad and said he’d buy a new one, she said.

It has been additionally disturbing to her children, who felt an extra bit of security knowing a minister lived on their block, she said.

Centralia police declined to comment, acknowledging they took a report, but would not discuss details since nobody had been arrested.

Officer John Panco said yesterday the case was sent to the city’s attorney to determine if any charges would be filed.

Both Pannette and Bates say police described to them it’s not criminal to shoot a nuisance animal on your own property.

Pannette and her husband have spoken with a lawyer and are considering a lawsuit. She’s shared a flyer with her neighbors to warn them there’s “someone on the hill that doesn’t appreciate animals and will fire on them if they come in his yard.”

If it’s not against the law, it should be, Pannette said.

The black and white feline has been taken to a local veterinarian to be cremated.

Bates is serving his fourth year on the city council and is minister at Destiny Christian Center, an Assemblies of God church, on North Tower Avenue.

Bates said he is sorry, what he did was stupid and he loves animals.

The police officer can attest to how remorseful, apologetic and cooperative he was, Bates said.

He realizes he should have spoken to his neighbors about his concerns or, “I should have thrown a rock at it, not shoot it. I’ll never do that again.”

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter