Pumpkin the cat shot at with pellet gun, now up for adoption

NEWARK — A kitten found with a pellet deeply embedded under its skin up for adoption following surgery at Popcorn Park Zoo.

The 1-year-old feline was brought to the Associated Humane Society shelter in Newark as a stray with a severe abdominal injury to her left side, according to a statement on the group's website. An x-ray revealed that a pellet had been deliberately shot at the cat and came to rest deeply embedded under the skin and through the muscle, according to the AHS.

AHS said an investigation into incidents such as this often go unsolved.

The cat, given the name Pumpkin, was taken to Popcorn Park Zoo and is now up for adoption.

"She's only about a year old and is just a bit shy when she meets someone new but within seconds of knowing you, she begins purring up a storm," the AHS wrote in a statement.

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Popcorn Park Zoo took in a cat left next to garbage cans in the Waretown section of Ocean Township and offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who left the kitten in the carrier.

John Bergmann, the zoo's executive director, has not yet returned a message seeking comment Monday.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ