Breaking: PETA Issues Warning After Cat Found Shot With Blowgun Dart in Medford (VIDEO)

For Immediate Release:
October 28, 2026

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

After a 1-year-old cat was found limping near Biddle Road with a blowgun-type dart piercing his leg, PETA is rushing an urgent alert to local airwaves, warning people to keep cats safe by keeping them indoors. The injured cat, now named Dart by his rescuers, has since been taken for veterinary care. Additional darts have reportedly been found discarded in areas where people regularly feed homeless cats, and community members say several pigeons at nearby Hawthorne Park have been spotted with darts embedded in their bodies.

PETA’s video spot, which features It actor Jaeden Martell, shows a series of sinister characters reaching for a can of gasoline, a golf club, poison, and a shotgun—followed by the warning, “Outdoor cats don’t go missing by themselves.”

“A dart driven straight through a young cat’s leg is a horrifying reminder that cats left outside can be subjected to unspeakable cruelty,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA encourages all guardians to provide their cats with a happy and fulfilling indoor life safe from cruel people, predators, speeding cars, and the many other dangers of the outdoor world.”

In addition to suffering from violence and abuse at the hands of cruel people, cats allowed to roam or live outdoors are at risk of contracting parasites or potentially fatal diseases, being attacked by predators or run over by cars, and countless other hazards. PETA notes that cats kept indoors need to be physically and mentally stimulated with a view of the outdoors, toys, climbing structures, scratching posts, cat TV, and other enrichment. PETA offers a catio-building guide as well as a “cat guardian’s bible” written by PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk that’s full of tips and available for purchase here.

PETA’s video series has run in Blaine, Minnesota, where alandlord allegedly poisoned cats whom a tenant was feeding; Dayton, Ohio, where a kitten was set on fire; Los Angeles, where a man is accused of shooting multiple homeless cats with a crossbow; and Pequea Township, Pennsylvania, where a cat was shot in the head with a metal arrow. Many more cases are detailed on PETA’s website.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.