Off-duty Texas police officer arrested after shooting neighbour's cat with arrow



An off-duty police officer in on leave this week after shooting a neighbour's cat with a crossbow and arrow that punctured its lung and broke its leg.



Officer Lance DeLeon of Boerne, Texas, targeted the harmless creature with the deadly weapon when he found it prowling around his garden earlier this week.



Horrified to find their precious pet speared by the arrow, the cat's owners rushed him to the nearest veterinarian. He was later taken to a specialist in San Antonio where he still recovering.

Poor baby: Bobby, a 2-year-old tabby cat has a punctured lung and broken leg after he was shot with an arrow by an off-duty police officer who didn't want him in his garden

Reunited with the 2-year-old tabby they call Bobby on Thursday, Natalie Brunner held back tears as she told Woai.com: 'I didn't think we'd see him alive.'

The mother of two recalled how she was outside on Tuesday afternoon and heard a commotion near the fence that separates her property and the DeLeon family's home.



Aggressive: Officer Lance DeLeon was charged with animal cruelty and has been placed on administrative leave following his arrest

'I heard this swoosh noise, like a swish and I heard clawing at the back of our fence,' she said. 'I didn't see Bobby crest the fence. I saw an arrow and then it quickly disappeared.'



Jumping up to see what had happened she spotted Lance DeLeon - whom she claims to never have met - leaning over the injured feline.



'All he said was there was no collar on him and he was in my plants. That was all,' she said.



Bobby wasn't the only one injured in the foray. After scooping up the wounded kitty, Mrs Brunner jumped back over the fence into her garden and in doing so broke her ankle which is now in a cast.



Despite insisting that there is no bad feeling between her family and the DeLeons, Mrs Brunner did point out: 'He could have come and easily said, "do you own a little brown cat? He comes into my yard and I don't like it." Turn the water hose on him, call animal control. Being a policeman, he had every resource at his fingertips.'



In addition, she admitted to being upset that the cop had intentionally fired a dangerous weapon at her home.



'That arrow could have gone through the fence, hit me, or the dogs, the kids, anyone,' she said.

Heroine: Natalie Brunner (pictured with her children) the cat's owner, who was in the garden when she heard the arrow strike Bobby, broke her own ankle as she rescued him from the DeLeon property

Purrrr: The Brunners were reunited with their beloved tabby on Thursday at South Texas Veterinary Specialists in San Antonio where he is recovering

The four-year Beorne Police veteran who was quoted in the Boerne Business Monthly in 2011 as saying that officers in the community 'want to be a positive influence,' was charged with animal cruelty and posted bail of $2000.

He is currently on administrative leave.



Bobby meanwhile is expected to make a full recovery though he may face surgery on his leg.

