State police are investigating the deadly shooting of a cat in Donegal Township.

The 3-year-old male feline was discovered shot July 21, according to owner John McCullough, at his home on the 1000 block of Gameland Road.

McCullough said he last saw his black cat “Midnight” on July 19 when he let it outside.

“It didn't come home for a couple nights,” he said Monday, “and that's when I went out looking for him, and I found him.”

Sometime during those two days, the cat was shot.

“It was shot once with a .22 (caliber),” McCullough said. “You can tell that by the size of the hole.”

He found the feline's body under a recreational vehicle in the yard. Midnight was shot in the rump, above the tail, he said. There was no exit wound. No casing was found either.

Trooper Dustin Scheerbaum is investigating the incident as a case of animal cruelty. He was unavailable for comment Monday.

But in a weekend news release, the trooper noted that the shooter is unknown. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 724-284-8100.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Tuesday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.