Wal-Mart Workers Accused of Shooting Cat

Wal-Mart Workers Accused of Shooting Cat

2 Wal-Mart Employees in Indiana Charged With Felony Animal Cruelty for
Shooting Stray Cat

The Associated Press

Dec. 30, 2004 - Two Wal-Mart employees have been charged with felony
animal cruelty after police said they followed a manager's orders to
shoot and kill a stray cat.

The men, both assistant managers at the Supercenter, were arrested and
released after a court appearance Wednesday. Christopher Anderson, 29,
and Jeffrey Hardin, 21, told police the store's manager ordered them
to get rid of the animal that was living in a storage trailer behind
their store.

Anderson and Hardin repeatedly shot the cat with a pellet gun from the
store until it died the following day, a Vanderburgh County Sheriff's
Department report said.

All managers potentially involved in the incident have been suspended
without pay pending an internal investigation and could be fired, said
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber.

"We were outraged when we learned of this incident. This kind of
action is completely inconsistent with the way we do business," she
said.

A truck driver who reported the incident said he saw store employees
placing what he believed to be a dead animal in shrink wrap a day
after he heard workers joking about shooting the cat.

Store manager Darrel Weitzel told police he had told some of his
employees to get a gun and get rid of the cat after attempts to coax
it from the trailer failed, according to a police report.

Anderson and Hardin were scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday.