An X-ray painted a disturbing picture: a sharp object penetrating the skull of a timid gray-and-black cat.
Staff and volunteers at Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters in Cumming learned about the gruesome discovery after a March 2023 attack in Roswell. The feline had been found with an arrow lodged between his eyes.
Furkids personnel were alerted March 9 and eventually needed about a week to trap the cat, who was left disfigured but survived. It was deemed a St. Patrick’s Day miracle, as the arrow had narrowly missed parts of the skull that would have likely proved fatal.
“We didn’t know if he was going to go blind. If there was going to be permanent brain damage,” Director of Cat Programs at Furkids, Diviya Roney, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “He got extremely lucky.”
They immediately knew what to name him.
On Monday, the shelter finally received justice for Patrick when his attacker, Elvis Fistik, was sentenced to two years in prison, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said. According to an indictment obtained Tuesday, the Roswell man used a crossbow to target Patrick and at least one another cat, who died from its injuries.
“Patrick was found with an arrow lodged between his eyes, harmed by a heartless individual who intended to kill him. We were also made aware of the fact that several other cats from this colony were found with arrows in their heads, and at least one other cat had passed and was buried,” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “Today, we are grateful to announce that the perpetrator of this awful act has been sentenced to two years in prison for two counts of animal cruelty.”
On May 18, 2023, about two months after the incident, Fistik was arrested and booked into the Fulton jail on two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, online records show. Roney said she testified during the sentencing, where she provided a shocking motive for Fistik’s actions.
“He said that his girlfriend at that time was pregnant, and she’s allergic to cats,” she said Tuesday.
Fistik’s plea deal also included three years of probation, his sentencing disposition sheet stated.
Furkids CEO Samantha Shelton, who said it was rare for someone in an animal cruelty case to receive that length of a sentence, thanked Roswell police detectives and the DA’s office for their help. The case was handled by the Elder Abuse and Animal Cruelty unit of the DA’s office, helmed by Jill Hollander, who told Shelton it was the only animal cruelty unit in Georgia.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“We see animal cruelty every day. But it’s not every day that we see justice,” Shelton told the AJC, noting a 2019 law, the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, which makes intentional acts of cruelty to animals a federal crime punishable with fines and prison time. “So I think it’s a monumental moment for animals in our state.”
The trauma from the attack has caused Patrick to be fearful of people, but Roney and Shelton remain confident that he will find a home someday. They have staff and volunteers working with him daily to regain that trust and hope to eventually find someone who will be understanding and patient with him.
“He needs that permanent home where he can be loved and be spoiled,” Roney said. “Where he understands that not every human being is evil ... because what this man did is evil.”
Furkids was awarded a little more than $2,000 in restitution from Fistik, which will go toward providing medical care and services for animals in critical need, the shelter said.
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