Breaking: PETA Issues Warning After Cats Found Shot With Darts in Middle Tennessee (VIDEO)

For Immediate Release:
September 9, 2026

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

After multiple cats in Erin have reportedly been shot with darts from a blowgun, PETA is rushing an urgent alert to local airwaves, warning people to keep cats safe by keeping them indoors. A cat was found dead and one kitten was found with a dart penetrating completely through her torso near the Honeysuckle Exxon gas station. Other cats have allegedly been shot and killed, and some have been found partially skinned. Police have reportedly charged three people with aggravated cruelty to animals in relation to the most recent incident.

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 kitten was impaled through the torso and another cat was found dead near an elementary school—a horrifying reminder that cats left outside to fend for themselves 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.